His Butterfly

l. win or lose

Impending doom had settled in the air like a storm closing in at sea. Alice's golden eyes were grim as she crossed the clearing, Sebastian followed her, her shoulders pushed back and her head held high in hopes of appearing confident and unfazed. It seemed to work, perhaps a bit too well, because Demetri and Felix advanced forward to capture her arms and her mate's arms in their hold. They struggled for a second, but huffed to themselves when they tightened their grip and hissed. Her gaze met Aro's over their taunt and tense shoulders. He smiled in pure delight.

"My dear, dear Alice," he sighed like a giddy child chasing a sugar rush. "We're so glad to see you here after all."

"I have evidence the child won't be a risk to our kind," she exclaimed, face puckered with the utmost of earnestness she could muster. She held out a hand to him, and Aro's eyes glistened from the prospect of looking into the future, of controlling a gift he'd always wanted but could never quite get his hands on. "Let me show you."

"Brother," Caius immediately scoffed in disbelief, but it was too late. Aro had already been hooked and drawn in.

Grinning, he held out his hands, gesturing impatiently for Demetri and Felix to let Alice go. Mariposa watched on, feeling utter terror as the very much smaller woman closed the space between herself and the greedy man before her. With just one sudden movement, Aro could've ended Alice's life then and there. Mariposa half-expected his excitement to be one of his crazy tricks, a declaration of war, but for the moment, he eagerly snatched up her hand and closed his eyes.

A second went by. Both Alice and Aro had frozen at his touch, Aro's smile slowly falling as Alice seemed to deflate in on herself, her posture turning tense and worrying.

"It doesn't matter what I show you." Alice ripped her hand back. The words hung in the air, heavy as the knife that made the first kill. "Even when you see, you still won't change your decision."

Mariposa and Jasper knew what was coming before Alice even turned to look at them, at her family. The brunette dhampir felt her heart drop to the depths of her stomach as she gave that one final glance to her daughter and Seth, the one that said 'run, get out of here and stay safe.' War had been declared and finalized as Jacob and Seth tore out of the clearing with a trembling Renesmee and Sophia clinging to their backs, Alice used the distraction to kick Aro hard in the face. Everyone watched in shock as the malevolent king flew feets away from his large coven before his body came into contact with the snow, his fingers digging into the earth to skid to a stop.

Her decision to harm Aro had two guards descending on Alice, teeth bared, ready for the killing blow. The witnesses stirred to life as she struggled, cracks forming along the marble of her skin. The wolves snarling in warning, hackles raised. But Aro just smiled at the sound, eyes locked in a challenging stare with Carlisle when he said, "Take her away."

The fear of a father reared him in his damning head. Pure, uncensored anger bloomed to life in Carlisle's glare. He screamed out in warning, "Let her go!" then sprinted across the clearing to save the girl he viewed as his daughter. It was that mistake that cost him, but Mariposa couldn't blame him. If she was in Carlisle's shows and Jasper, Sophia, or Edward were Alice, she'd already be dead, too. But it happened so fast. In a mere blink, Carlisle was a headless, burning body at Aro's feet, and Esme's wails for a lost love were the first signs of battle.