𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓:
The fate

"HEY, Harper. Can I talk to you privately for a moment?" Eden asks her, a tone leaving no space for argument. They're currently in the woods, gathered around the huge bonfire, as they tell each other stories about the wars they have witnessed over the years.

She sat next to Emmett and Garett, with Kate sitting on Garrett's lap. Harper just nodded as she squeezed Emmett's hand. She stood up and followed her through the deeper parts of the woods out of ear sight. The conversation they are about to have is private and important just by the looks of it.

"I wanted to thank you for willingly helping our family. And making my brother happy." Eden starts. It was polite, and Harper thanked her for that, but dragging her into the woods was not just to thank her, and they both knew it.

"What is it, Eden?"

Eden sighed, pursing her lips, "I was wondering if you would do me a favor."

They came in a rigid, formal formation.

They moved together, but it was not a march; they flowed in perfect synchronicity from the trees-a dark, unbroken shape that seemed to hover a few inches above the white snow, so smooth was the advance.

The outer perimeter was gray; the color darkened with each line of bodies until the heart of the formation was the deepest black.

Every face was cowled, shadowed. The faint brushing sound of their feet was so regular it was like music, a complicated beat that never faltered.

At some sign, Harper did not see-or perhaps there was no sign, only millennia of practice- the configuration folded outward.

The motion was too stiff, too square to resemble the opening of a flower, though the color suggested that; it was the opening of a fan, graceful but very angular.

The gray-cloaked figures spread to the flanks while the darker forms surged precisely forward in the center, each movement closely controlled.

Their progress was slow but deliberate, with no hurry, tension, or anxiety. It was the pace of the invincible.

Harper couldn't help counting.

There were thirty-two of them. Even if it did not count the two driftings, waifish black-cloaked figures in the very back, who Harper took to be the wives -their protected position suggesting that they would not be involved in the attack-they were still outnumbered. There were just twenty-five of us who would fight.

The wolves did not join the fight.

They refused, but they circled around the barriers to see if the Volturi would surpass the vampires. They still have the duty to protect the humans in Forks.

"The redcoats are coming, the redcoats are coming," Garrett muttered mysteriously to himself and then chuckled once. He slid one step closer to Kate. Emmett tightened his hold on Harper's hand, and so did she.

"They did come," Vladimir whispered to Stefan. "The wives," Stefan hissed back.

"The entire guard. All of them together. It's well we didn't try Volterra." And then, as if their numbers were not enough, while the Volturi slowly and majestically advanced, more vampires began entering the clearing behind them.

The faces in this seemingly endless influx of vampires were the antithesis to the Volturi's expressionless discipline-they wore a kaleidoscope of emotions. At first, there was shock and even some anxiety as they saw the unexpected force awaiting them.

But that concern passed quickly; they were secure in their overwhelming numbers, secure in their position behind the unstoppable Volturi force. Their features returned to the expression they'd worn before they'd surprised them.

It was easy enough to understand their mindset-the faces were that explicit. This was an angry mob, whipped to a frenzy and slavering for justice.

It was clear that this motley, disorganized horde-more than forty vampires altogether -was the Volturi's own kind of witness. When the Cullens and their witnesses were dead, they would spread the word that the criminals had been eradicated, that the Volturi had acted with nothing but impartiality. Most looked like they hoped for more than just an opportunity to witness- they wanted to help tear and burn.
"Alistair was right," he murmured to Carlisle. Harper watched Carlisle glance at Edward questioningly.

"Alistair was right?" Tanya whispered.

"They-Caius and Aro-come to destroy and acquire," Edward breathed almost silently back; only our side could hear. "They have many layers of strategy already in place. If Irina's accusation had somehow proven to be false, they were committed to find another reason to take offense. But they can see Renesmee now, so they are perfectly sanguine about their course. We could still attempt to defend against their other contrived charges, but first, they have to stop to hear the truth about Renesmee." Then, even lower.

"Which they have no intention of doing."

And then, unexpectedly, two seconds later, the procession did halt. The low music of perfectly synchronized movements turned to silence. The flawless discipline remained unbroken; the Volturi froze into absolute stillness as one. They stood about a hundred yards away from the Cullens.

Aro's and Caius's clouded red eyes flickered across our line. Harper read the disappointment on Aro's face as his gaze roved over our faces, again and again, looking for one that was missing. Chagrin tightened his lips.

As the pause lengthened, Harper heard Edward's breath speed.

"Edward?" Carlisle asked, low and anxious. "They're not sure how to proceed. They're weighing options, choosing key targets- me, of course, you, Eleazar, Tanya. Marcus is reading the strength of our ties to each other, looking for weak points. The Romanians' presence irritates them. They're worried about the faces they don't recognize-Zafrina, Senna, and Harper in particular- That's what stopped them."

"Outnumbered?" Tanya whispered incredulously. "They don't count their witnesses," Edward breathed. "They are nonentities, meaningless to the guard. Aro just enjoys an audience."

"Should I speak?" Carlisle asked. Edward hesitated, then nodded. Thalia just looked worried. She can feel it in two ways, which she has never felt before.

"This is the only chance you'll get." Carlisle squared his shoulders and paced several steps ahead. He spread his arms, holding his palms up as if in greeting. "Aro, my old friend. It's been centuries."

The white clearing was dead silent for a long moment.

And then Aro stepped forward out of the center of the Volturi formation. The shield, Renata, moved with him as if the tips of her fingers were sewn to his robe. For the first time, the Volturi ranks reacted. A muttered grumble rolled through the line. Eyebrows lowered into scowls. Lips curled back from teeth. A few of the guards leaned forward into a crouch.

Aro held one hand up toward them. "Peace." He walked just a few paces more, then cocked his head to one side. His milky eyes glinted with curiosity. "Fair words, Carlisle," he breathed in his thin, wispy voice. "They seem out of place, considering the army you've assembled to kill me and to kill my dear ones."

Carlisle shook his head and stretched his right hand forward as if there were not still almost a hundred yards between them. "You have to touch my hand to know that was never my intent."
Aro's shrewd eyes narrowed. "But how can your intent possibly matter, dear Carlisle, in the face of what you have done?" He frowned, and a shadow of sadness crossed his features-whether it was genuine or not, Harper could not tell.

"I have not committed the crime you are here to punish me for."

"Then step aside and let us punish those responsible. Truly, Carlisle, nothing would please me more than to preserve your life today."

Eden stepped forward. "Aro, Caius." walking towards Carlisle, stopping beside him, "Give us a chance to explain our side of the truth." Caius, for a minute, softened his gaze at her but not for anyone to notice. But Harper did.

"No one has broken the law, Aro. Let me explain." Again, Carlisle offered his hand. Before Aro could answer, Caius drifted swiftly forward to Aro's side. "So many pointless rules, so many unnecessary laws you create for yourself, Carlisle," the white-haired ancient hissed. "How can you defend the breaking of one that truly matters?"

"The law is not broken. If you would listen-"

"We see the child, Carlisle," Caius snarled. "Do not treat us as fools."

"She is not an immortal. She is not a vampire. I can easily prove this with just a few moments-" Caius cut him off. "If she is not one of the forbidden, then why have you massed a battalion to protect her?"

"Witnesses, Caius, just as you have brought." Carlisle gestured to the angry horde at the edge of the woods. "Any one of these friends can tell you the truth about the child. Or you could just look at her, Caius. See the flush of human blood in her cheeks."

"Artifice!" Caius snapped. "Where is the informer? Let her come forward!" He craned his neck around until he spotted Irina lingering behind the wives. "You! Come!" Irina stared at him uncomprehendingly, her face like that of someone who had not entirely awakened from a hideous nightmare.

Impatiently, Caius snapped his fingers. One of the wives' huge bodyguards moved to Irina's side and prodded her roughly in the back. Irina blinked twice and then walked slowly toward Caius in a daze. She stopped several yards short, her eyes still on her sisters.

Caius closed the distance between them and slapped her across the face. It couldn't have hurt, but there was something terribly degrading about the action. It was like watching someone kick a dog. Tanya and Kate hissed in synchronization.

Irina's body went rigid, and her eyes finally focused on Caius. He pointed one clawed finger at Renesmee

"This is the child you saw?" Caius demanded. "The one that was obviously more than human?" Irina peered at us, examining Renesmee for the first time since entering the clearing. Her head tilted to the side, and confusion crossed her features.

"Well?" Caius snarled.

"I... I'm not sure," she said, her tone perplexed. Caius's hand twitched as if he wanted to slap her again.

"What do you mean?" he said in a steely whisper.

"She's not the same, but I think it's the same child. What I mean is she's changed. This child is bigger than the one I saw, but-" Caius's furious gasp crackled through his suddenly bared teeth, and Irina broke off without finishing.

Aro flitted to Caius's side and put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Be composed, brother. We have time to sort this out. No need to be hasty." With a sullen expression, Caius turned his back on Irina.

"Now, sweetling," Aro said in a warm, sugary murmur. "Show me what you're trying to say." He held his hand out to the bewildered vampire. Uncertainly, Irina took his hand. He held hers for only five seconds.

"You see, Caius?" he said. "It's a simple matter to get what we need." Caius didn't answer him. From the corner of his eye, Aro glanced once at his audience, his mob, and then turned back to Carlisle. "And so we have a mystery on our hands, it seems. It would appear the child has grown. Yet Irina's first memory was clearly that of an immortal child. Curious."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to explain," Carlisle said, and from the change in his voice, Harper could guess at his relief. This was the pause they had pinned all their nebulous hopes on.
Aro hesitated for a moment. "I would rather have the explanation from someone more central to the story, my friend. Am I wrong to assume that this breach was not of your making?"

"There was no breach."

"Be that as it may, I will have every facet of the truth." Aro's feathery voice hardened. "And the best way to get that is to have the evidence directly from your talented son." He inclined his head in Edward's direction.

"As the child clings to his newborn mate, I'm assuming Edward is involved." Of course, he wanted Edward. Once he could see into Edward's mind, he would know all their thoughts. Except for Bella's.

Then Edward strode across the snowy field, clapping Carlisle on the shoulder as he passed.
Aro took Edward's hand. His eyes snapped shut at once, and then his shoulders hunched under the onslaught of information. Every secret thought, every strategy, every insight-everything Edward had heard in the minds around him during the last month-was now Aro's. And further back-every vision of Alice's... All of that was Aro's now, too.

Aro continued to concentrate on Edward's memories. Edward's head bowed, too, the muscles in his neck locking tight as he read back again everything that Aro took from him and Aro's response to it all. This two-way but unequal conversation continued long enough that even the guard grew uneasy. Low murmurs ran through the line until Caius barked a sharp order for silence.

"You see?" Edward asked, his velvet voice calm. "Yes, I see, indeed," Aro agreed, and amazingly, he sounded almost amused.

"I doubt whether any two among gods or mortals have ever seen quite so clearly." The disciplined faces of the guard showed the same disbelief I felt. "You have given me much to ponder, young friend," Aro continued. "Much more than I expected." Still, he did not release Edward's hand, and Edward's tense stance was that of one who listens.

Edward didn't answer. "May I meet her?" Aro asked-almost pleaded-with sudden eager interest. "I never dreamed of the existence of such a thing in all my centuries. What an addition to our histories!"

"What is this about, Aro?" Caius snapped before Edward could answer.

"Something you've never dreamed of, my practical friend. Take a moment to ponder, for the justice we intended to deliver no longer applies." Caius hissed in surprise at his words. "Peace, brother," Aro cautioned soothingly.

Emmett and Jasper walked Bella and Renesmee forward. After all of that, the Volturi still tried to convince themselves that there had been a crime.

"Ha!" Aro exclaims excitedly.

"Lia, Alice," she hears Edward mutter. Harper looks at the two women walking toward the Volturi.

"Cordelia! Alice!" Aro exclaims with a large smile spreading across his features.

"We have evidence the child won't be a risk to our kind," Alice tells them, and Aro looks at her curiously and suspiciously.

"Let me show you," Alice says as she loosens up the hold of the guards on her and walks towards Aro.

"Brother?" Caius asks Aro.

"It doesn't matter what I show you. Even when you see, you still won't change your mind," Alice said. She was furious and scared, and she looked back at her family. She saw Bella looking at her. She whispered, "Now!"

Bella looks at her daughter and Rosalie. "Take care of my daughter," as Rosalie and Renesmee run towards the woods.

"Get them!" Caius yells to the guards

Cordelia is with Alice. The two make eye contact and nod. Cordelia kicks Aro with her leg, sending him flying; however, he manages to land back down, and he orders the guards to get a hold of the two.

"Take them away," Aro orders. Caius gives Eden a victorious look as two guards hold Alice and Cordelia.

"Let them go!" Harper hears Carlisle as he runs towards Aro to attack. He and Aro meet each other mid-air. Aro lands back to the ground and turns toward the Cullens and the other witness, with Carlisle Cullen's head in his hands.

Thalia released the most gut-wrenching scream.

And all hell broke loose.