𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙎𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀
ミ★ ( bewitched, act five ) ★彡

     The next day, all of the vampires walked onto the snowy field together. They each stood with their covens as they waited for the Volturi to show up. They wanted to get there before them to be able to give them the advantage and stop them from getting any closer towards Forks and the humans or the packs. Lilith's eyes scanned the foggy area in front of them intently, knowing that area was extactly where they would come from and it was any moment now that they would arrive; instinctively putting Diana a little bit more behind her and Edward, using their bodies to cover her until she needed to be seen.

     "If we live through this..." She heard Garrett speak to Kate, the two looking at each other, "I'll follow you anywhere, woman."

     Kate shook her head with a half-smile, "Now you tell me?"

     She could hear the covens each consulting each other and comforting each other in case it was the last few moments, Lilith even looking over at Lorelei who seemed to be looking everywhere but in front of her. Possibly searching for where Leah was to make sure she was safe.

     Within seconds, the sound of hundreds of boots hitting the snow made Lilith's head snap towards the foggy area, hearing the Volturi and the Guard get closer and closer towards them. "The redcoats are coming. The redcoats are coming." Garrett mumbled in anticipation, practically bouncing on his feet.

     When the smell hit Lilith's nose, her eyes widened when she noticed how many of the Guard actually showed up. There were hundreds of them all dressed in black coats with Aro, Caius and Marcus leading them, and with Alec, Felix, Demitri and Jane behind them.

     Lilith looked over at Aro, seeing him smiling when the vampire king spotted Alice within their group, the possibility of him gaining her within the guard exciting him. Her golden eyes then narrowed in on Irina, who was walking among the Guard staring at her sisters and wondering why they were on the Cullens' side when she was on the other side. She could even feel a hint of regret coming from the vampire, the possibility of her making a huge mistake as her sisters would never protect the same thing that destroyed their coven once before.

     Howls were suddenly heard in the distance and Lorelei let out a breath of relief as the packs dispersed from the trees and made their way towards the Cullens and the other vampires, standing in between them to fill the gaps and make their side look bigger even though they clearly had less than the Volturi.

     The Volturi all took off their hoods and Carlisle took it as the opportunity to step forward and speak first, "Aro, let us discuss things as we used to. In a civilised manner." He began.

     "Fair words, Carlisle." Aro responded, his eyes raking over his opponents. "But, a little out of place, given the battalion you've assembled against us."

     "I can promise you, that was never my intent." Carlisle replied calmly. He could see how Aro might of took their assembly as confrontational, but he would of rather that happen than walk into the situation naively without backup given the circumstances. "No laws have been broken."

     "We see the child." Caius spat from beside his brother, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Do not treat us as fools."

     "She is not an immortal!" Carlisle snapped. "These witnesses can attest to that. Or you can look." He told them, looking back down to his granddaughter and pointing at her, "See the flush of human blood in her cheeks."

     "Artifice!" Caius interrupted Carlisle.

     Aro held up his hand, "I will collect every facet of the truth. But, from someone more central to the story." He told his brother, keeping his eyes trained onto Edward and Lilith. "Edward... as the child climbs to your newborn mate... I assume you are involved." He said, holding his hand out for Edward to take so he could use his power on him.

     Edward looked down at Diana, seeing her truly clinging on to Lilith's hand and smiling at her and pressing a kiss to her forehead before walking over towards the Volturi after giving one last reassuring look to his wife.

     Lilith quickly placed Diana on the other side of her where Jacob was stood in his wolf form and heard Lorelei and Leah take a step towards them as well, keeping the two completely surrounded as Lilith made sure to keep watch on Edward to make sure nothing happened to him.

     Within seconds, Edward made his way towards the Volturi and placed his hand into Aro's who eagerly took it, the man's eyes glazing over as he looked into Edward's mind and seeing the memories of Lilith's pregnancy and the birth of his daughter.

     "I'd like to meet her." He told Edward in a whisper, quite fascinated by the child now considering he could see that she was not changed; but was born instead. Edward's mind quickly went over his chances, not wanting Diana anywhere near them at all, wondering if he could get them out as soon as possible before he decided there was no way out of it and turned back to look at his family sorrowfully. Lilith pursed her lips before picking up their daughter and placing her on her hip, beginning to walk towards the Volturi with Jake and Lorelei in tow—all of them not liking the idea of it but knowing they had no other choice.

     But, it didn't mean that Lilith dropped the glare she kept solely trained onto Aro, the vampire looking at her with interest, "Ah. Young Lilith." He greeted her. "Immortality becomes you." Aro's eyes then switched to Diana once he heard her heartbeat and he let out a loud, high-pitched giggle, "I hear her strange heart." He told them, holding his hand out for the toddler to take.

     Diana looked at Lilith for permission and if it was okay for her to do so, Lilith could only nod her head, trying to keep on a brave face and not let her know that she was terrified of her having any contact with them at all. The child then reached out, Aro meeting her halfway and holding onto her hand while Jake growled at the action. Diana began to use her gift on him and Lilith watched as Aro's eyes widened in wonder, "Magnifico." He mumbled under his breath when he saw what was being shown by her. Aro let go of Diana's hand and Lilith pulled them back, taking an extra step to put a little bit more distance between them. "Half mortal, half immortal." He told the Guard. "Conceived and carried by this newborn while she was still a witch."

     "Impossible!" Caius gasped out.

    Aro's head snapped towards his, "Do you think they have fooled me, brother?" He challenged him, the Cullens all taking that as the opportunity to walk back towards their side as quickly as possible.

     "Bring the informer forward." Caius ordered the Guard, having them push Irina towards the front and next to him. The blonde not being able to look anyone in the eye, only keeping her eyes on the ground. Caius pointed at Diana, "Is that the child you saw?"

     "I'm not sure." Irina nervously answered him, her voice trembling as she was still looking down at the snowy ground. Caius called out to Jane as a threat. "She's changed. This child is bigger." Her voice became stronger.

     "Then your allegations were false." Caius concluded.

     "The Cullens are innocent. I take full responsibility for my mistake." She told them, looking back towards the Cullens and her family, "I'm sorry." She whispered.

     A torch was then lit and several members of the Gaurd surrounded Irina. Lilith's eyes widened as she realised what was about to happen next, "Caius, no!" She shouted out, about to take a step forward to stop it from happening when Edward held her back. While she was furious about the situation that Irina had caused, she didn't want her to die for a mistake she had made. She understood why she had done what she did when she learnt about her history, but what the Caius was about to do was unnecessary.

     Without a second thought, Felix and Santiago ripped off Irina's arms, the sound of marble breaking echoing over the field followed by the sounds of her and her family's screams.

     Kate and Tanya immediately tried to run towards their sister just as Felix ripped off Irina's head and Caius setting slit the rest of the body before looking over towards the Cullens and seeing their side struggling to keep Tanya and Kate from attacking them. Tanya was shoving her way through before being held back by Emmett and Elezear, while Garrett went for Kate, screaming out when she used her gift on him at full power while trying to hold her back.

     "Blind them." Edward ordered Zafrina while Lilith kept her eyes on the Volturi to make sure they didn't use that opportunity to attack them or anyone else for trying to get to them in return.

     Zafrina did what she was told, "Give me my sight back." Tanya growled, her eyes looking everywhere but nowhere at the same time.

     "Tanya, this is what they want." Edward told her, "If you attack now, we'll all die." Within seconds, Tanya calmed down and nodded in understanding that he was right and the two of them nearly fed into their trap.

     Lilith watched as Aro looked at Jane, the silent order being clear even without Lilith using Edward's gift. She immediately created a shield across everyone on their side before Jane was able to look at Edward and whisper, "Pain."

     When nothing happened, Aro's head cocked to the side intrigued while Jane tried to continue her assault on any other members of the opposition. Her blood red eyes settled on Lilith, who smirked at her vindictively knowing that she was getting frustrated that her valuable gift wasn't working on them because of her.

     Jane took a step forward to run at her but was held back by Aro. The wolves growled at the vampire and Alec immediately opened his palms, the dark charcoal coloured smoke flowing out from his hands beginning to make their way towards them before Aro held his hand up to stop him also.

     "Aro, you see there's no laws broken here." Carlisle spoke.

  Aro pursed his lips, "Agreed. But, does it then follow that there is no danger?" He responded, taking steps closer towards them.

     "For the first time in our history... humans pose a threat to our kind." He addressed the Guard. "Their modern technology has given birth to weapons that could destroy us. Maintaining our secret has never been more imperative."

     Lilith looked among the Guard, seeing them all feel moved by Aro's words, their decision changing on whether to keep Diana and the Cullens alive switching back and forth while Caius smirked. "In such perilous times, only the known is safe. Only the known is tolerable. And we know nothing of what this child will become."

     His words were embedding fear into the Guard who were accepting of the Cullens plea, they were now too terrified of Diana's progression of their species that it posed a threat to them and their secret—and at that point it was obvious from how many times Aro had done something like that to get what he wanted every time.

     "Can we live with such uncertainty?" He continued as he walked towards the Volturi Guard, "Spare ourselves a fight today, only to die tomorrow."

     The chatter among the Guard began to rise as they all feared that they would die at the hands of Diana and the Cullens.

     "Don't act like you care for their lives, Aro." They heard a voice call out, Lilith's head snapping towards the edge of the field and seeing Ryker walking towards them in his own coat. "Anyone here can see right though you."

     "Ryker." Lilith whispered in shock, completely surprised that he was there. She had no idea that he even knew of what was happening with them or that he was coming to help. Lorelei must have told him and maybe that's why she was so on edge.

     "Ryker, my old friend! How lovely of you to join us." Aro grinned.

     "I am here to demand you drop this case and leave the family alone." The high priest ordered, "Otherwise you will pay for it in worse ways than you could even imagine."

     Aro let out a scoff as the Guard let out murmurs of shock that they were being threatened by a witch, "I am surprised you are here defending one of us. You hate vampires with a passion."

     "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Ryker told the vampire king with a smug look on his face, not feeling the need to go into how or why he was defending the girl that was like a daughter to him now—along with her family and friends.

     "You'd really go to war over this child?" Caius' eyebrow raised, shocked that something like that was even happening given the history between the two species.

     "Ah, but you forget she's a witch..." Ryker smirked, "And I'd go to war for any of my people." Suddenly, several more entities appeared within the side of the Cullens and the wolves, spreading themselves out in between them and all glaring at the Volturi. Lilith could sense several vampires, witches and werewolves among the new group while everyone tried to figure them out also.

     "So, again, Aro, drop the assault or pay the price. Your decision." He told him and his followers growled. Ryker then turned to Lilith with a grin, "Oliver sends his best." He winked and Lilith's jaw dropped when she saw a glimpse of the deal between himself and Oliver, before looking over at the new faces to see that they weren't so new after all.

     She could see that many of the group that had arrived upon Ryker's will were actually people that her parents helped out when they were on the run from him. So while Oliver couldn't physically help himself any longer with magic, he sent people he figured he could trust to help her instead. Many of them were probably in return of a favour for him helping them in the first place. But, what was even more shocking was that Ryker and Oliver had spoken—like they had actually spoken and Ryker didn't rip his head off for what he had done.

     "So, what do you say, Aro?" Ryker turned back to the vampire, squaring his shoulders more before smirking once again, "Shall we settle one last final score?"