In her haste, Emily hadn't noticed that Jasper had escaped until she saw him going up against Demetri. Jane tried to incapacitate the blonde Cullen, however nothing seemed to be happening. Emily managed to spot Bella nearby, a silvery bubble protruding out from her to surround Jasper. Her shield.

Alec seemed to notice this, running for Bella and tackling her to the ground. The shield vanished and Jane re-targeted the now vulnerable Jasper. He groaned in pain, consumed by it as Felix and Demetri pushed him to his knees.

It only took one hand motion from Demetri for Jasper's head to be taken clean off.

Emily heard Alice cry out in rage from behind her. The seer struggled to escape her captivity, but the guards holding her in place seemed to be losing their grips. She saw Demetri throw Jasper's head into one of the small pyres at Alice's feet, adding insult to injury. That was all it took before Alice lept up, twisting and pulling at her captor's arms to free herself and run into battle.

Emily hissed before turning around, noticing Emmett Cullen had Alec pinned to the ground, foot to neck and starting to tug. The largest of the Cullens hardly had any trouble ripping Alec's body away and tossing it aside right in front of Jane and Emily. The head was tossed into a fire nearby. A growl formed in the back of Emily's throat as Emmett ran away. Jane hid her devastation well enough, staring at her twin's body without a sound.

"Avenge him." Emily hissed at the girl. Jane steeled herself with a nod, turning to a smaller, tawny brown wolf knawing on a witness' corpse. It snarled at Jane before collapsing to the ground in anguished yelps. Felix came up from behind a moment later to snap the wolf's neck and toss it aside.

A grey wolf saw the body and howled in despair.

Emily sent Jane on her way, a sudden anxiety rising in her chest. Alice had escaped so easily, Alec was killed so quickly... Emily forced the thoughts back, refusing to even toy with the idea that they might be in over their heads. Of course they weren't! The Cullens and their allies were just... more resilient than expected.

"I don't understand why you would risk your own safety by doing your own dirty work. Don't you have guards to do that for you?" Bella Swan's voice said icily behind Emily. She turned around to face the newborn with a sneer on her lips.

"Maybe I enjoy the thrill of it. What's it to you?" Emily asked as she and Bella circled each other.

"My mistake. I suppose old habits die hard. Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"You were behind so many horrible thinks in Hawkins and then you continue to cause suffering with the Volturi. How did you get from point A to point B? What made you jump from small town conspiracy murders with Henry Creel to vampiric law enforcement with Caius?"

"A pretty face." Emily snarked, rolling her eyes. Bella opened her mouth to respond before both women were taken off balance by the ground rumbling. A great split in the earth opened up in the middle of the field caused by Benjamin of the Egyptian coven. Bella took this as her chance to speed away, leaving Emily even more disoriented with the strange third degree questionaire.

She spotted Esme Cullen clinging to the edge of the rift for dear life with a witness attempting to pull her inside and down to the magma river below. Emily moved to do something before she saw the grey wolf from earlier throw itself at the witness, pulling him down into the chasm with it to leave Esme on the edge. She managed to pull herself up to safety.

The split continued to get bigger and wider, vampires from both sides and werewolves stumbling inside. Nearby, Demetri had Edward Cullen pinned down by the edge. As the rock below him crumbled away, Edward fell inside as Demetri moved backwards to save himself. He peered over the edge to see if Edward was still alive. Apparently seeing nothing, he started to walk away before Edward flew out to grab him by the neck, yanking his head off in one fell swoop.

Anxiety spiked in Emily's chest again, mentally making note of their losses. Alec, Demetri, several witnesses, she had no idea where Felix was...

Across the field, Emily saw Alice chasing after Jane. The girl looked almost fearful in contrast to Alice's cold and determined expression. The seer jumped in front of Jane, taking her by the collar of her cloak and dragging her to a large black wolf. It was the one who commanded the others, Emily remembered. Alice threw Jane at the black wolf, who immediately started knawing at Jane until he ripped her head off with his teeth.

Emily let out an enraged screech, preparing to leap over the widening schism and end Alice herself, Aro's wish to recruit the seer be damned. She threw Emily's little sister quite literally to the wolves and she wasn't going to let that go very easily.

For a brief moment in the confusion, time suddenly seemed to stop and everything sounded quiet. Emily heard the agonized scream and the shattering of porcelain. It suddenly felt like someone had landed a harsh blow to her chest. She stood still for a moment as if she had petrified on the field, a statue. Out of the corner of her eye, she hardly even registered seeing the Romanians bowl Marcus over into two pieces.

Finally, she looked behind her and immediately saw red. Tanya Denali threw the top of Caius' head, severed at the jaw, into a small fire nearby with a self satisfied smile on her face. The rest of Caius' body was in a heap at her, Kate, and Garrett's feet.

That did it. After everything that had happened, Emily's entire world finally seemed to shatter around her, her sanity going with it.

Snarling and screaming in the image of a Fury, she charged right for Tanya first, tackling her to the ground. The Denali seemed dazed before she screamed as Emily started ripping her limbs off with her bare hands, finishing with the head by twisting it at the neck and pulling it off.

She didn't even have enough sense to throw the limbs into the fire before she charged at a shaken Kate. Her hands curled around Kate's neck before pinning her to the ground. Emily reacted before Kate could shock her by pulling her hands off at the wrists, followed by removing her head just under her chin.

Finally, she zeroed in on Garrett, the nomad torn between avenging Kate and preserving his own life. Emily didn't even give him time to choose, shooting in his direction with her hands extended. Garrett's torso exploded into tiny shards of crystal, effectively removing his limbs in a backwards way.

Seething with her mind still clouded with rage, Emily grabbed all three of their heads and tossed them into the fire. She stared at the blaze for a moment as the lingering sounds of battle echoed around her. Finally, she knelt down next to Caius' body as her bloodlust drained to be replaced with pure and blinding pain and sadness. Her chest felt empty as if someone had ripped her dead heart out to leave only an empty cavity.

She reached down to pull his body close to her, careful to keep the hood of his cloak over what remained of his jaw. It didn't feel much different from when they would embrace normally, except Caius' arms stay limp.

Her seething pain finally boiled over and Emily finally let out a scream of agony.

Again, the battlefield seemed to slow down in time, although it wasn't entirely in Emily's head this time. Small skirmishes stopped upon hearing her cries, wailing like a scorned banshee.

Then, in a manner of seconds, it was as if Emily's emotions had a mind of their own. In a radius around her, people started exploding into crystaline shards. The Volturi and their allies remained untouched, but in the blink of an eye, suddenly nomads shattered, the Egyptian coven vanished, the Irish coven disappeared, along with others.

The Cullens seemed like they were hit last, forced to watch everyone else explode before they met the same fate. It was tragic how short Bella's second life ended up being, having spent more time coveting it than actually having it. The wolves didn't have pretty ends, either. Instead, reminiscent of flickering memories of Emily's past life, all their bones shattered, their jaws broke, and their eyes were sucked back into their skulls with bloody squelches.

Alice somehow was the only Cullen spared.

Emily could feel everyone's eyes on her. People knew she was powerful to some degree, but never to an extent like this. It was more proof for her that her old life never truly left her. With high emotions, her powers would go haywire, same as Henry, same as Eleven, same as all the others. She'd never had just cause to let them unleash like that again, but once seeing Caius' body really set in, nothing else mattered.

Aro in particular looked at her in disbelief. He seemed a bit put off by her killing Bella and Edward, two assets he had hoped to gain. On the other hand, he still had Alice and Emily's potential seemed exponentially more valuable. Besides, his brothers were dead and all that remained of the regency were him, Sulpicia, and Emily.

It was almost eerie how quiet everything became as the thick reality set in around everyone. Emily wasn't a woman to be trifled with and she'd been completely broken in a manner of minutes. She didn't sob, she physically couldn't. Instead, she rocked Caius' body back and forth in her arms. Her thousand-yard stare landed on what remained of Jane's body, yet she didn't have it in her to look away.

A lullaby started to emerge from her lips, quiet and sorrowful, though everyone could hear it. It was one Caius had taught her. The graceful windchime ring of her voice undercut the emotions she otherwise would have let out through her tears.

"Drakari pykiros. Tikummo jemiros. Yn lanlyz bartossa. Saelot vāedis. Hen ñuhā ēlēnī. Perzyssy vestretis. Se gēlyn irūdaks. Anogrose..."

***

The days blended together after a while. Emily found herself staring at the wall more and more often, hardly doing anything. Sad as it was to say, after all these years she finally understood why Marcus had always seemed so checked out. She felt much the same way.

She heard a knock at her door and debated upon answering it. Emily seemed to internally shrug before opening her chamber door.

"Your presence is requested for a trial." Alice told her. Emily's lips flattened into something close enough to a smile. The girl did try, she had to give credit where it was due. Alice became a lot more tolerable after she was separated from the Cullens and had adopted the natural lifestyle. Still, it was hard for Emily to get excited about much of anything these days. She never truly forgave the seer for what happened to Jane, either.

"Alright. I'll be--"

"Out in a moment? Or are you just going to close the door and not show up... again?" Alice pushed past Emily and went to the closet. "You can't keep doing this, Emily, you have duties. Arms out."

Alice pulled Emily's court robe out off of the hangar and held it open so she could step into it. Emily wordlessly complied, the full black fabric hanging losely around her figure.

"Not by my choice." Emily responded, shrugging the robes on tighter. Her fingers curled around the red paisley patterned scarf she was always seen wearing around her neck to pull it out from under the robe. The tassles swung with the movement.

"That doesn't mean you can ignore them. How do you think it looks when only two of three of you show up for trials?" Alice chastised her gently.

"Frankly, Alice, I could care less." Emily's voice remained hollow.

"You may not, but Aro and Sulpicia do."

"Well, they're still a unit, so they couldn't possibly understand."

"But Marcus--"

"Alice!" Emily finally shouted. The girl clamped her lips shut, knowing better than to incur Emily's wrath. "What are the charges?"

"Hunting within the city limits, if my memory serves me right." Emily let out a sigh, pinching her nose.

"Eight rules. We have eight rules, how hard could it possibly be to abide by eight rules? Especially one as simple as that one?" She griped.

"It's beyond me." Alice shrugged. "They're expecting you now."

Emily inclined her head in response before leaving the room. She walked silently, sullenly down the halls until she emerged through the side door of the throne room. Aro was already seated in his middle throne while Sulpicia sat to his side in what used to be Marcus' throne. Emily flopped down on Caius'-- her-- throne, sitting rigidly as if she were a statue looking out imposingly.

"How nice of you to join us, sister dearest." Aro greeted.

"Save it." Emily replied. She knew he was being sarcastic and snippy. She hadn't shown up for the past six trials. "Alice told me we're dealing with hunting within the city?"

"Caught red-handed by a patrol." Sulpicia informed her.

"So why even bother with all this? We have the proof."

"You know the protocols--"

"Protocols, laws, rituals, blah blah." Emily snapped, rolling her eyes and staring intentely at the main doors. "Why. Even. Bother?"

"It's good for you, Emily. You hardly do anything else aside from seeing--"

"I don't need a lecture, Sulpicia."

"All I'm saying is that you're one of this coven's three rulers, the face of it. You need to present yourself well, if not for you then for the rest of us. We need to appear unified and without weakness. Your absence hasn't gone unnoticed and it calls that image into question. It's crucially important that you show up, else it just looks like Aro and I are running everything and we don't want to appear like a monarchy."

"You picked a poor person to act as your balancing consul." Emily muttered. Sulpicia opened her mouth to argue again, but Aro just held his hand up to tell her not to. This was a fight they'd had many a time and having it again now wasn't in their interest. The reality was that she wasn't 'picked' for this role. She merely took on Caius' after he was killed.

The doors opened and one vampire was dragged through by two of their guards. Emily hadn't bothered to learn their names. They weren't the twins, so she didn't care. The vampire struggled in an attempt to break free before she was thrown to the floor.

"Analise, you come here accused of hunting within the city limits. To maintain secrecy, you know such behavior is forbidden. Have you anything to say for yourself before we proceed?" Aro asked her. The vampire hissed through her black curls.

"I stand accused of an accident. I remain a newborn, my creator abandoned me before he could explain anything. I maintained secrecy for seven months out of concern for my own safety. I came here seeking aid without realizing there would be humans around. You know newborn cravings are hard to curtail." Analise defended. Emily's face remained stone still, staring at the newborn without any remorse to be seen on her features. Aro on the other hand seemed sympathetic.

"May I?" He asked, standing up from his throne and approaching Analise with an extended hand. She took it and Aro started reviewing her memories. His lips pursed before letting her go. "She speaks the truth."

"She was seen in the act. If the humans become aware of our presence in the city--" Emily scrambled, desperate to get over with this.

"I know who this creator of hers is. He must be brought here and made to answer for his crimes." Aro turned back to Analise, wearing his warm smile. "In the meantime--"

Analise exploded in a mass of porcelain shards in his hand before he could continue. The crystal pile fell at Aro's feet and he turned around to look at Emily, frustrated.

"Emily, we talked about this." He reminded her sternly. Emily sneered.

"Don't start going soft now, brother." She hissed. "She broke a law, we know what that means. You keep going on about me not pulling my weight, but you can't let little shit like this go. Find her creator, bring him here, and he shall be dealt with."

Emily stood up from her throne and reached behind it to pull out her torch. She set it alight before approaching what remained of Analise and burned it. She stared at Aro coldly, the older vampire giving her the look she know too well by that point. Disappointment. She didn't have the energy to care.

"You keep telling me I need to play my part here. Caius was your executioner and I must act accordingly as his replacement, would you not agree?" Emily said bluntly before extinguishing the torch and returning it to its place and promptly leaving the room. She had half a mind to return to her chambers until she made a sharp left turn. Climbing the stairs to reach a tucked away tower, she threw the door open in a fit of fury.

"Am I requested, my lady?" Corin asked her. Emily stared at the other vampire for a moment before flopping down on the bed like a dead fish. She hadn't even bothered to remove her robes, she just shifted the scarf around her neck so it covered her face to encase herself in darkness and to be welcomed by its smokey vanilla scent.

"You know what to do." She said briskly.

"Master Aro told you to not make this a habit, you were in here just this morning--" Corin protested.

"Aro can kiss my ass." Emily snapped. She heard Corin sigh before Emily's senses dulled, lulled into pure, senseless bliss. She sighed with a smile, briefly forgetting what had been causing her so much pain. She never truly forgot it, but at least for a few hours she could ignore it. It was either that or blow something to pieces with her mind.

Yes, Corin's gift was addictive to the highest level, but Emily didn't care. Whatever she needed to take the pain of losing Caius away, she would do it.

She'd slip into her comas for the rest of her life if she had to.