Chapter Twenty - Nessie's POV

I tried to still my vibrating leg as the coast of Italy came into view. We were only a few minutes away from Volterra now, and finally, after more than a week, we were coming to bring my brother home.

Memories began to assault me of the last time we had confronted the Volturi. The late Irina had been the cause of my and Jay's first confrontation with the vampiric royals of our twilight world, and they had been hellbent on either claiming the gifts of our family as their own or eradicating the threat they saw us as. Luckily, the Cullens and Denalis had not been alone; the many friends Grandfather had made over the years came then to support us in testifying that we were not immortal children. Indeed, they had become so attached to us that they would have stood at our family's side.

And now, they were keeping their promise.

Zafrina's wild laughter caught my ear, and I turned to see the Amazonian grinning as she talked with her sisters. Her gift of illusions was crucial to the success of this mission, and I remembered with a smile how enchanted I'd been - and indeed, still was - with her "pretty pictures". Jay had been just as awed, and we'd had to work together so that our mother could share in the beauty as well. Thinking of my twin made the smile vanish as I stared out the window once more.

In essence, the plan was quite simple. Aunt Alice would find out where each member outside of the castle was, and we would choose the most easily accessible target for Zafrina. She would then create an illusion that made the Volturi guardsmember see several of the humans as vampires. He or she would no doubt alert the rest of the guard, who would want to insure Aro and his brothers were protected from any threat. They'd hole up in their castle whilst Benjamin would use his gift to make it seem as though they were truly under assault, providing me the chance to find Jay.

The Irish and the Denalis would distract the other guards in Volterra so that they could not come and assist the one in Zafrina's sights, while the Olympic Coven sans me would confront the Volturi directly along with the Romanians and the nomads. If it came down to a fight, Benjamin and his mate Tia would join in, turning the faux assault into a real one. Since the scent of the wolves was too strong to risk them being seen unless this turned into a fight, they were serving as our communication relays. And none of them were happy about it.

Especially Jacob.

He'd insisted upon coming since I was, and even though Dad had tried to "convince" him to confront Aro with him and Mom (and by that I mean blatant threatening), Jake was determined to remain by my side and keep me safe. Dad did a lot of scoffing at that, coupled with several snarls, but Mom managed to talk him into the idea; she didn't want me going alone in case something went wrong.

Dimitri and Chelsea were the top two targets. Jane and Alec weren't a deadly duo when Mom was around, but destroying the bloodhound and the glue that held their forces together was imperative. If there was no fight in which to kill them, then Mom would use her shield to free Chelsea of Corin's influence, and Carlisle and Dad would attempt to talk her to our side with Jasper's influence assisting them. The Volturi would no doubt attack at this point, but Siobhan was using her possible gift by concentrating on envisioning our plan working without any of our blood being shed.

We were all putting our lives on the line for the chance to finally and forever be free of their rule. Kidnapping Jay had cemented the belief in the minds of all the other vampires that the Volturi had to be stopped. They were served not to protect our secret or us, only to protect themselves. And it had come with a cost; we were forced into service, the covens too powerful destroyed, our families torn asunder. There would be no more of this.

No more Volturi.

"We have arrived," came the voice of Eleazar, the captain, over the intercom. "Prepare for landing."

Instead, I prepared to save my little brother.

~~~~~

Sorry this is a week late! I was preparing to make this chapter longer, but the main fight sequence doesn't take place here, and the details of their assault are not as important to the story line. Plus I wanna finish this as soon as possible without sacrificing the quality of writing, which I hope I haven't done yet. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed! Next up is Ciel's confession of why she did what she did. Feel free to theorize in the comments below.

Until the next update! :)