Chapter 22
AN:

I usually write my notes after the story but i had it here up first for a warning. The third scene consists of sexual encounters and you may skip that if you wish. read and review, i wish to hear from you.

She had watched Jane in the shadows of the music room.

Renata could not fathom the way the blonde vampire seems to have a regal era within her. It was as if Jane was not a part of the Volturi guard. She had her mistaken for one of the wives when she had arrived as Jane simply bore an aura that seems like royalty. The human shield hid in the shadows as she watched the head of guard play the piano with such ease and virtuoso. She had been dismissed from her duties as the raven-haired Volturi king was with the kings discussing certain matters.

She spent the entire day tailing on the blonde vampire in order to study her movements.

Renata always felt that she was in the head of guard's shadow. Her only duty was a very controversial one when she had replaced Jane as Aro's bodyguard. The head of guard was usually the personal guard of the raven-haired vampire. With her master, she felt like she was an outsider. Aro did not treat her harshly yet his actions betrayed him that he would have preferred the company of the blonde vampire.

She felt cheated honestly.

Jane had an element of mysteriousness yet it intrigued the human shield. The dark haired woman had kept a keen eye on the blonde vampire's mannerisms. The works of Didyme and Athenodora clearly show within the young blonde. Jane was the epitome of beauty and deadliness of the Volturi guard. While Renata was all in the shadows.

She was just a mere shadow of somebody else's dreams. Unlike Jane, whom Aro did not even bother hide his favoritism.

She was desperate for validation and craved for acceptance. Renata deduced that the only way to attain such high position is to imitate the highest amongst all guards. If she had copied Jane in every likeness, Aro would favor her. The dark haired vampire would be more than his human shield.

By doing so, she will secure her and Sulpicia's safety.

Over the blonde vampire's shoulders, her keen eyes scanned the music room. The dark-haired woman was analyzing the head of guard's every move. She had watched her like a hawk. The shield had watched her every move and every breath. She had took note of how the female witch twin had walked with grace.

Copycat she is. The human shield tried to copy her manners and etiquette.

She had returned to her quarters to have her sanity all to herself. All of her memories surged as she closed her eyes. She had imagined herself in the blonde vampire's shoes. Every detail of Jane was flowing through her mind vividly. Every detail needed to be perfect in order to succeed.

The shield began as she removed her cloak and sat herself down in front on the mirror. Renata had worked with her hair that fell lose on her back in messy ringlets. One of the notable traits she had observed was neatness and orderliness from the female witch twin. Renata had combed through her locks and made it presentable. She needed to get rid of the old Renata. The old Renata was nothing but naive. The shield had allowed herself one element of authenticity within her. She did not put her hair up in an updo like Jane does, she also needed a touch of herself.

A touch of Renata in order to distinguish her.

Looking through the mirror, she had practiced the mask of apathy that Jane often wore. She could have sworn she had looked more dangerous once the smile had fallen from her face. Renata liked that. She was obsessed with the idea of the guards fearing her as well.

She may be a shield as Jane was a torturer. Yet they fail to realize she was dangerous as well.

A Volturi woman like the head of guard has a composure of a noble lady. Her emotions are well concealed and she bore a blank stare. Her eyes remained inquisitive yet Jane did not let it to seem as if she was assessing the area. A Volturi guard like Jane had a posture and regal aura of a goddess. Her stance was a mixture of the blond king's wife and her master's late sister. Renata did not doubt as the two women had been Jane's mentors throughout the years. Whenever Jane walks, she does not stir up the wind. Renata had practiced it using candles in order to achieve such a graceful walk. The candle lights flicker as she imitates the head of guard's graceful walk.

The candles then flicker. She tries again. It flickers once more.

"ARGH! Why is this so damn hard?!" Renata curses and she immediately brings her fingers on her lips. "A lady like her does not curse, Renata. You have to be perfect." she assured herself as a smirk tugged on the corner of her lips.

She stands properly and tried again. It took her multiple tries before getting the hang of the feather like walk the blonde vampire pulls off effortlessly.

Just like what she saw. Renata imitates. Every step should be as light as feather.

Anything Jane can do, she will strive to do much better. Renata had proclaimed herself courageous and clever as imitation became second skin to her. She was better,yes, but the dark haired vampire knew she needed to be the best. She was feeding on the prejudice Sulpicia had whispered in her ears.

Her only motivation was for the glory of her mistress. Anything to keep Sulpicia happy, of course.

Piano was one of the skills that Jane was notable for. Renata had picked up books on music theory in order to attain the level that could compare to the blonde vampire. She had done her best to absorb the information that the books provide. In this way,she will learn.

To learn as to imitate. To imitate in order to succeed.

Imitate and she shall conquer.

He had been enduring everything even when struggling.

Sadness still appears within the Volterra walls. Even after tears cannot shed as they were simply stuck in this reality. The walls felt deserted and desolate. Everything seems bleak and stark with the aftermath of the death of the love of his life.

Didyme's death felt like as if a candle was blown. The candle had been giving him hope and life throughout the centuries. A chandle that gave him warmth and love. With her death, warmth went away. Entrapping him in the dark and scary pathway of immortality.

Before he was wed to her, they had promised to one another that they will be together till the end of time. The promise of an eternal life with her was a blissful dream indeed. It was one Marcus did not want to wake up from. No one would want to wake up in a dream where everything felt right.

She had promised him. Would that promise be fulfilled that in their next lifetime?

As if vampires were given a next lifetime, he chuckles bitterly. Creatures like them were likely possessed no soul after all. They were stuck in a phase where they were not alive yet they are not dead. A hollow vessel that walked the depths of the earth would be a better term to describe their kind.

He had watched Jane play the piano in the music room, Didyme sat by her side. As he appeared by the doorway, his wife's red eyes locked with his. Didyme gave him a blissful smile. She had absolutely looked radiant as she sat next to her young charge. The Volturi king nodded in acknowledgment.

Marcus stayed by the doorway, never taking his eyes off the scene in the music room. His gaze travelled towards the blonde vampire right next to his wife. Jane clearly looked much older. She was dressed in a similar attire that his wife and Athenodora were usually clad with. The familliar diamond ring Sulpicia worn was on the blonde vampire's left hand. She was married to the love of her life.

Athenodora was with Alec exchanging insights on literature. He had often told Didyme that each Volturi wife had laid their claim on one of the twins. Jane was Didyme's golden child while Alec was for the fair haired woman.

He was faced with another reality where everything went right.

The Volturi king blinked. In a split second, Jane had been in the music room all by herself.

The music room was once filled with blissful memories of his wife. It was a place where she had often lingered as she was an avid musician herself. The music room had bore witness to countless memories made. To see it all empty, was too painful to watch after all.

The room felt his emptiness. In turn, it mimicked his.

His home. His solace. Didyme was already gone yet every inch of her was still in the castle. Her presence haunting the walls. Her memory lives on. He had been here to feel her presence yet far enough to set boundaries. Her scent was still in the music room. Nothing changed at all yet Didyme was dead.

The music room remained as it is before her tragic demise. Jane stopped playing. Her fearful eyes met his.

"Master..." she said in a monotonous tone. The Volturi king remembered how much his wife hated that kind of tone. Marcus honored her wishes still.

"Didyme would not be happy to hear that tone." He attempts to chuckle but it left a bitter taste in his mouth. "Dro the master tone, it's just the two of us."

Jane reluctantly relaxed in his presence.

"You had been struggling in playing?" He inquires as he had heard a few mishaps in her playing. Marcus knew that her skill on playing the piano did not need any room for mistakes.

"Every inch of the room feels painful." Jane whispers yet it was audible enough for him to hear.

"If it was painful, why bother returning?"he asks her.

Silence filled the music room that was once filled with various music. He had seen the pain in her eyes that mirrored his own. Marcus let out a not much needed sigh. The question had been for him as well. Why was he dwelling in the past?

"I-I miss her..."Jane blurts out. "I just wanted to wake up from this dream."

"Yet this is our reality..." he said as his eyes filled with sadness once more. "It would do you no good to dwell on the past too much." He gives her the key to the music room.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Jane asks as confusion can be seen in her features.

"I would be closing off the music room. It would be much easier to recover after all." Marcus stated. "I gave you the key because Didyme would have wanted you to have it. Dwell on her presence yet not too much. You are most valuable to Aro, he would not want to see you like me."

He had spared one last look at the music room. Marcus had grabbed the huge doorknob yet he found himself unable to close the door. He had once remembered they had played a childish game of hide and seek. Her ghostly kisses on his cheek. In the midst of his grief, he tried to deceive himself all along. The Volturi king had dared to hope that his wife's passing was nothing more than just a blissful hallucination.

He had hoped Didyme would emerge from the door with a smile on her face.

And еven if the time changes across the if the heart felt no love and his soul went with her passing. The beating of his undead heart as he lay awake through the night. He had blown out the lamps as moonlight seeped through the huge windows. In his frozen heart Marcus knew, his wife's return was a lie he waited for.

I would still choose to love you in our next lifetime, Marcus thought before closing the door that was the remnant of Didyme's memories.

He will still choose her. If time shall permit them a second lifetime amidst the curse of immortality.

Through some strange circumstances, Sulpicia found herself to be summoned in her husband's chambers.

They had spent the night together to keep up appearances. If one happened to know the Volturi king thoroughly, they would know that the raven-haired vampire was not the one who favors love. The room was dim with the fireplace as the only source of light. It was the raven-haired woman's first time in her husband's quarters as he consummated their wedding night in her chambers. She had found it odd to be summoned yet who was she to disagree?

The raven-haired king had his own intentions, of course.

"Renata had been changing." Aro began yet did not take his eyes off his work. "It seems that she is more determined than usual..."

He had noticed several changes in his personal guard. There was once an element of childishness within Renata that seemed to have vanished throughout the past days. She seemed more collected and composed. The shield had began taking everything seriously. It was for the better of course, yet he could not help but feel that something was amiss.

"Really?" Sulpicia asks with a tone of false surprise. She had sat by the window and admired the scenery that Volterra possesses. Aro was sitting by his desk, preoccupied with several documents regarding the Volturi. She was dressed in her nightgown and a robe to cover up. The raven-haired woman enjoyed a cup of blood as usual.

"She seems to be eager to join the Elite guard." he chuckles. "Yet i am not sure if she is already ready for that."

It was the truth after all. Renata had once expressed her interests in joining the Elite Guard yet he knew it was not yet time. She would have a lot to do until she can reach their level.

"Why don't you give her a chance?" Sulpicia presses. She had treaded lightly in order for him to realize that she had her own hidden intentions as well.

"She is there, Sulpicia." He said as he faced her directly. "But not close enough to their level."

Silence fell between the two of them. Aro sensed the aloof nature Sulpicia had been giving him. He stood up and edged closer to his wife. Sulpicia raised an eyebrow with his sudden movements. He leaned closer to her and trailed kisses down her neck. Aro being sensual was a concept that was new for the raven-haired woman. Months had passed since their wedding night as he did not make any move towards her.

"Now, enough of the talk of the others. I did not call you here to converse about the several matters within the guards." The Volturi king whispered in her ear.

He had cornered her to the wall and claimed his wife's lips hungrily. From Sulpicia's lips, the Volturi king's lips trailed down to her neck. The raven-haired woman let out a low moan. To have intimate relations with him again was an improvement. His wife pulled her back up as she crashed her lips to her husband.

The Volturi king chuckles.

Aro kissed her back and pressed his body to hers. The Volturi king's hands started to roam her body. Feeling and touching every inch of it. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth. Making his wife moan while kissing pinned her hands up on the wall, hungrily kissing her in her aroused state.

The husband and wife crashed down on the bed yet did not break the kiss. She had ran her hands in his hair as he ripped her robe open. The raven-haired king slipped his hand inside her sheer nightgown. He had made sure that tonight, he was sure his wife would be screaming his name in ecstasy.

And rumors that he did not care about his wife will be squashed into pieces. Her loud moans were enough for the guards to talk about them for weeks. The ravens haired woman was confused with her husband's sudden sexual urges with her.

"W-What are you doing?" Sulpicia asks.

"Am i not allowed to be intimate with my wife?"he asks nonchalantly.

The whole night was filled with passionate moans and hidden motives. He had used the excuse of sexual encounters in order to probe inside her mind. It was an eventful encounter after all, as his wife radiated sexual desires that was strengthened by her isolation in the tower.

He held her while Sulpicia wrapped her arms around him. Planting kisses of the nape down to her shoulders as they savored each other beneath the moonless sky. With every not much needed breath they took at enjoying rvery single moment, her fear was gone.

"Harder, amore mio..." he heard Sulpicia mutter amidst her moans. She had met his thrusts as pleasure overtook them both. "You bring me so much joy, amore mio."she whispers in his ear within each of his thrust. He had grabbed on both of her legs as he obeyed his wife's wishes.

Sulpicia's gaze tore away from her husbands and was diverted to the huge mirror on the side of his bed. She had watched their figures as they both savor one another. Their skin glistened in plain moonlight as desire radiated from the both of them. She had admired her husband who was bedding her with such hunger. She had his hands placed on her bossom and kneaded it.

He slid in and out of her swiftly yet every thrust felt different in intensity. The Volturi king silently probed inside her mind yet found nothing but thoughts of his wife's provocative encounters with him. He had come across her conversation with Renata yet he was side tracked with his wife had grabbed his shoulder in ecstasy.

"Faster, amore mio. I am about to reach my peak..." she whispers with such hunger as arousal had gotten the best of them.

Boundaries were diminished tonight.

A woman and a man, no more but yet no less.

Blind in the dark, he gazed into the window of her soul. She looked into his heart, and he saw her pure and whole. His wife's moaning face etched in his memory as he had bedded his wife. He winced as Sulpicia's nails dug in his back in ecstasy. With his wife's loud moans, the Volturi king knew rumors were about to transpire soon.

But pleasure took over him, and he felt that it was the immense need that was too urgent to deny and nothing mattered then expect for the both of them. He should have used the moment to seize her thoughts yet pleasure had overtook him.

For a moment, he had forgotten about his agenda. The Volturi king had let arousal get the best of him and forgot what he was supposed to do. He rolled off her and laid next to her in the huge bed. Aro took the moment to scan the room. Their garments were scattered on the floor, some were discarded yet some were ripped in the night of ecstasy they had done. The raven haired woman snuggled next to him.

He did not notice a smirk slowly tugging in Sulpicia's mouth.

He happened to be on watch with her. Alec thought that the one who manipulates bonds seemed fascinating for him. There was just something in Charmion that he could not brush off. He was left with her company as Jane was somewhere he did not know.

"How do you know which one is Heidi?" He asks her inquisitively.

Aro had not left any specific description yet the witch twin was certain Charmion knew something. A ghost of a smile appeared on the dark-haired woman as her eyes met his.

"If you happen to fall heads over heels on her, then i'll know she's Heidi..."

Alec had raised an eyebrow as confusion can be seen in his face. Seeing her companion lost over what she had meant, the one who controls the bonds burst out laughing. The dark-haired man still did not get what Charmion meant.

"I was joking." She brushes it off with a wave of the hand. Silence engulfed them both as they watched the scene beneath them. Awkwardness engulfed them both as her attempt to lighten the mood had the brunet confused. When the silence was too much, the vampire with sensory deprivation spoke:

"What do we have here?" Alec asks in order to break the silence that stood over them awkwardly. He brought themselves back to the working atmosphere that they possessed earlier.

The guards have seized a coven that was led by a woman named Hilda. It was a fairly small coven that was consisted of six female vampires. The Volturi had no problem with them until a newborn vampire came into light. Charmion had no idea why a nearly mature vampire who was at the end of her newborn phase would cause havoc.

Something did not sit right.

"Her coven was in trouble because of an uncontrollable newborn." Charmion stated as they caught a glimpse of the accused in their high balcony. "It seems strange though..."

Her statement caught the brunet vampire's attention. Alec had raised an eyebrow as the woman could only let out a not much needed breath. He had sensed that she was holding back her thoughts from him. Charmion was uncertain if she could tell him the insights she had about this case.

Her twin currently holds the highest position of the guards and the favorite of the masters. Charmion knew that Jane and Alec basically shared everything. She was not going to risk her safety with one stray thought. However, she had found herself at ease with his presence.

"You can tell me. I would not tell a soul..." Alec assures her, his tone was now lighter and carefree. Charmion eventually gave in once she sensed that he was genuine in his actions. Alec was one of the few who treated her the same. Some would look at her in fear and cower. Some would look at her in envy for being part of the higher ranks.

"I do not mean to judge the kings' decisions. I just found it odd for a vampire who is at the end of her newborn phase to wreck havoc at all." She confesses. Alec seemed to process with the sentiments Charmion gave him.

"Is it not clear to you?" the blonde vampire said as her gaze landed on the woman with light brown hair. "Aro gets what he wants. It's obvious that someone in that coven caught his interest."

She had not had the chance to say more when his twin appeared right in the doorway to the balcony. Charmion distanced herself from the male witch twin once his sister made his presence known. She had been in the same room with the masters as her opinion was needed as she was the head of guard.

"Jane..." Alec said in a warning tone.

They were in a public area. Someone could have heard what she had said and have her punished. His sister was very brazen with her words. Charmion could see that he deeply cared for his twin after all. Jane removed her hood as she walked towards her brother.

"The verdict?" Alec asks in a low voice.

"Guilty by association. They are to be executed." Jane tells him in a whisper yet she was certain Charmion heard it as well. Her gaze then shifts to the woman with light brown hair. "It's a good thing you are here. We have something to do and it involves you as well."

Charmion instantly knew what the blonde vampire was implying.

"Well then, lead the way..."