— 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔 —
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬, 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

Everyone died—there was no winner.

No champion. No success. Only ash and fire.

If the Volturi chose to fight today, no one would come out on top. The allied vampires were an equal match to the talents of the Volturi—something that had never happened before. And it was a horrifying realization for Aro.

To watch his entire coven get decimated before he too was destroyed; it was dreadful.

To watch as Alec was killed and for Jane to fall down in sorrow only to die minutes later. His prized twins: the physically young vampires who Aro saw nearly as his own children.

They looked up to him more than anyone: he had their complete love and devotion. And they'd won his love in return—a very hard feat for anyone to do.

Then for Marcus to simply give up, allowing the Romanians to tear him apart... was he kidding? Aro was not surprised by it, but it still made him want to bite his brother's head off for giving up so easily.

To the Romanians at that.

And for Caius to die because of Kate's ability. The damn Denali sisters—the Volturi should have killed the three bitches along with their mother all those years ago.

Aro never should have showed mercy to them: innocent or not.

Then finally, to feel Bella Swan rip his own head off before lighting him ablaze.

The only peace Aro got was knowing that the remaining Volturi members managed to rip Bella and Edward apart directly after.

Nevertheless, all the vampires essentially destroyed each other. It was more than unsettling.

Such an event would wipe over 75% of vampires off the map. The vampiric population was not all that large and most of them were standing this very field—pitted against each other.

The main covens and nomads would be gone. Not to mention the leading coven would be gone—the ones who upheld the law of the vampire world.

If the Volturi truly were evenly matched with Cullens and their allies, it terrified as to what his standing would be against Lithiovai. More in the sense that if Lithiovai managed to get back even half of his children then hell would reign.

Aro released Alice's hand—looking at her with a blank face and his lips pursed.

Slowly, his gaze slid over the Cullen alliance.

Benjamin, Zafrina, Edward, Isabella, Alice, and Kate: those were the ones who were the most powerful. The ones that Aro thirsted to add to his collection.

Edward, Bella, Alice, and Kate would be the most difficult to sway. So long as their family was alive, they would never join him.

But Zafrina and Benajamin... perhaps after many centuries, with time they may open up to the idea of joining him.

Like his prized tracker; Demetri, Benjamin was from the Egyptian Coven. Aro had stolen from Amun easy enough before; he could certainly do it again.

It mattered not that Amun was technically older than him.

Aro would need to play the long game with Benjamin and Zafrina and treat them exceptionally well.

As much as Aro hated sucking up to people, especially being a man with such power as himself, he knew how to do so when it would benefit him.

Then again, that was not the most important matter. The most important consideration was what he was to do in this moment?

His mind was racing milli-seconds at a time, analyzing every possible thing he could do.

But how in the Gods was he supposed to fight against that? Alice showed him the future. The probability was that no one would win if they fought today. They would all just kill each other.

His coven would be destroyed, he would be destroyed.

"Now you know—that's the future," Alice said bitterly, staring at Aro coldly.

The past few months had been anything but easy on any of the Cullens. Alice and Jasper have missed their family during the weeks they were away, and they were forced to stay away all because the Volturi were ready to kill them.

Caius stepped forward, glaring heatedly at Alice.

"Brother, we cannot alter our course, the child still poses a grave threat. We cannot have another version of Thespian in this world..." He said.

They had successfully proven Renesmee to be a hybrid, but it did not take away from the potential dangers. And Aro made that known to everyone—claiming for all they know, Renesmee very well may grow to be a monster.

A liability.

Just like Thespian. After all, the only other known hybrid was Thespian: a ripper.

How were any of them to know that Thespian was not so brutal because of his nature.

Maybe it was simply too unnatural to mix human and vampire genes so closely—perhaps the natural product of such a union was a monster.

What was Aro to do? He still did not have reasonable evidence to step away from a fight. And if he chose to step away then everyone would know that he was leaving out of fear for his fate rather than true justice.

At least, what the Volturi were trying to pass off as true justice.

He could not exactly hold council with his brothers either to let them know of the gruesome deaths he had seen. With a vampire's hearing, everyone in this frozen meadow would hear their words.

Not to mention: Aro, Caius, and Marcus all loathed the fact that Vladimir and Stefan were present. If the Cullens were so loyal and considered themselves as Cassandra's close friends then why would they involve two of her father's closest companions?

Aro narrowed his eyes, Cassandra was no doubt not present at this confrontation because the Cullen's did not want to be the reason that the Volturi finally managed to catch her. This was true.

But there had to be another reason as well: a reason that Alice and Jasper had chosen to obscure saying to Cassandra. And that reason was the Romanians: Vladimir and Stefan. They did not want to admit that they accepted their help.

Even if Vladimir and Stefan were currently not in cahoots with Lithiovai, the entire idea of it was still disrespectful to Cassandra and her safety. But rather than be truthful about that part and warn her to stay away because of the Romanians, they chose to not mention it at all.

Aro narrowed his eyes, his voice so quiet that if a mortal stood next to him they would not be able to hear it. The other vampires around did not hear it either—only Alice heard it as the words were directed to her.

"Does Cassandra know that you have allied yourself with them?" And by 'them' they both knew he meant the Romanians.

Aro truthfully liked Alice a lot, but at this moment, he was anything but pleased with the talented little seer. Not when the majority of the reason he was so eager to attack was because he wanted to make her along with a few others part of his coven.

As well as demolish potential threats.

However, instead of leaving with her and the others as the newest Volturi members and these other useless vampires burnt to nothing but ash—he was gifted a vision of his own demise

Alice did not flinch at his harsh words, her next words coming quickly. "It was for her own safety..."

"Say what you will, but you were just too cowardly to tell her the truth," Aro snapped, his voice still quiet enough to keep privacy between only him and Alice.

But was he really one to judge? He lied all the time, at least 50% of his words were a lie or a very stretched and twisted truth.

Before anything could be said—Edward stepped forward from the allied line of defense. He spoke at a slightly higher volume, ensuring that all around would be able to hear his words.

"What if we could guarantee that she is able to remain concealed from the human world? To keep the secret and grow to be peaceful? Could we all leave in peace?" He questioned.

Caius answered, standing forward with annoyance. "Of course, but that cannot be known!"

Edward smiled, almost condescending. He had read Alice's mind the moment she joined them on the field: read Huilen's mind and Nahuel's. He had never loved his adoptive sister more or been so grateful to Cassandra. Because as it would turn out: Renesmee and Thespian were not alone. There were four others out there—four of which were peaceful and easily blended with human society.

Aro had not gotten to that part in Alice's mind because he had been so bombarded and taken aback by the vision that he witnessed; he had been forced to let go before he could see anything else. He had not seen Cassandra lead Alice and Jasper to the other hybrid.

"Actually," Edward sighed in relief. "There is."

All heads turned at the sound of light footsteps: two beings stepped from the forests and walked into the meadow at an entirely human and rather leisurely pace. Nahuel stood taller than his aunt by quite a few inches—both their skin was beautiful and brown.

Nahuel did not twinkle in the sunlight as every other vampire in the vicinity did. Rather, like Renesmee, his skin barely glimmered. So subtly that it was invisible to the human eye and just barely noticeable to a vampire's eye.

Nahuel and Huilen finally came to a stop in the middle of the allied vampires and the Volturi.

"I have been looking for witnesses of my own—among the old tribes of South America," Alice explained.

Caius sneered. "The time for witnesses is past!"

Aro held up a hand, stopping Caius before he could completely turn away the new witnesses. As much as Aro hated to admit it, the Volturi had witnesses of their own among them. They could not do anything outlandish or risk having the entire vampire population turn their backs on them.

"Let them speak, brother," Aro demanded. "Who are you?"

Alice chose to introduce them before they could introduce themselves, her words holding a bite that nearly had all three leaders visibly flinching.

"This is Huilen and her nephew, Nahuel. Both of them are dear friends of Cassandra. She is the one who brought me to them. For anyone wondering, while Cassandra could not be here today, her witness is as follows: Renesmee poses no threat and she would like to make it very clear that her brother Thespian is simply a case from his upbringing!"

No one on the battlefield had the full story of who Thespian or Cassandra were.

All Aro tried justifying was that they had no clue how Renesmee would grow to be.

Did it hurt that their own mate did not side with them on this matter? Certainly (well, only Aro and Caius had their spirits crushed by the revelation—Marcus was also on the side of allowing the child to live) but none of them were surprised by it.

Caius was, of course, the first to lash out. While it hurt—his hurt came in waves of rage.

"Her witness means nothing!"

Marcus tensed, wanting to sneer at his brother. He refrained, recognizing the many eyes on all of them at the moment.

Even Marcus, who was on the side of allowing the child to live and leaving the Cullen's alone, knew the importance of keeping the appearance of power up.

Nothing would look worse than if even the ancients of the Volturi were fighting among themselves.

However, all three of them were upset at Cassandra being brought up. They were still trying to keep her being their mate as well as the situation of Lithiovai under wrap.

Especially considering Vladimir and Stefan were within hearing range. There was no telling what they would do if they learned that their old friend was indeed alive and plotting.

"Speak, Huilen," Aro commanded. "Give us the witness you were brought to bear."

Huilen tilted her chin upward, looking around for all to hear her story.

"A century and a half ago, I lived with my people, the Mapuche. My sister was Pire. Our parents named her after the snow on the mountains because of her fair skin. And she was very beautiful—too beautiful. She came to me one day in secret and told me of the angel who had found her in the woods and visited her by night. I warned her." Huilen shook her head mournfully. "As if the bruises on her skin were not warning enough. I knew it was the Libishomen of our legends, but she would not listen. She was bewitched."

All were listening, some sharing looks with each other throughout Huilen's history. Caius cast a look of disbelief at Marcus, as though he could not believe that there was a good chance they were not going to battle today.

Marcus, to his annoyance, gave the smallest approving nod back.

Huilen's voice rang strong. "They had successfully performed coitus together only a few times over a short number of days. Pire told me when she was sure her dark angel's child was growing inside her. I didn't try to discourage her from her plan to run away, I knew even our father and mother would agree that the child must be destroyed, and Pire with it. I could not bear the thought of her death. I went with her into the deepest parts of the rainforest. We searched for her demon angel but found nothing. I cared for her and hunted for her when her strength failed. She ate the animals raw, drinking their blood. I needed no more confirmation of what she carried in her womb. I hoped to save her life before I killed the monster inside."

"But she loved the child in her. She called him Nahuel, after the jungle cat. When he grew strong and broke her bones—she loved him still. I could not save her. The child ripped his way free of her, and she died quickly, begging all the while that I would care for her Nahuel. Her dying wish—and I agreed. He bit me when I tried to lift him from her body."

"I crawled into the jungle to die. I didn't get far—the pain was too much. But he found me; the newborn child struggled through the underbrush to my side, and waited for me. When the pain ended, he was curled against my side, sleeping. I cared for him until he was able to hunt for himself. We hunted the villages around our forest, staying to ourselves. We have never come so far from our home, but we agreed with Cassandra when she told us this was the right thing to do."

Huilen bowed her head when she was finished. Caius appeared more than enraged, Marcus staring at the pair with curiosity, and Aro with his lips pursed and an eerily blank look to his typically cheerful face.

Marcus, for the first time, spoke out loud. "You know of Cassandra?"

Caius glared at him fiercely—and Aro crossed his arms behind his back awaiting an answer. They were both unhappy at their brother's choice to bring more attention to their mate.

But Aro was more curious about the answer than upset.

A few vampires whispered; this was the first time most heard Marcus speak.

Nahuel chose to answer this question, his voice calm.

"Cassandra is a good friend. Over fifty years ago, we came across her wandering around our rainforest. She claimed that the Earth called her there. We realized immediately that she was no human, but she was also not a vampire. She was no Child of the Moon, shapeshifter, or any other supernatural creature that our legends speak violently of. Rather, our legends spoke of peace-bringers, warriors of nature with a connection to our Earth. Huilen knew it before I, but we figured out that Cassandra was the last of her kind. A fae. We have remained as friendly contacts since." He ended.

Whispers immediately broke out among the masses: Caius glared toward the ground fiercely. Marcus was staring at the hybrid almost kindly before he addressed Aro who held an eerily blank expression.

"It would appear that these hybrids truly are much like us. Perhaps capable of even better control and blending." He said to Aro.

Aro tilted his head, looking behind him to his brothers and the rest of his coven.

"Indeed, it would appear we certainly have much to consider before any judgment is passed..."