Timeless Ties || Volturi Kings

15. In This Shirt

Moving on now, moving fast
And this touch must be wanted
Must become through your ask

— The Irrepressibles

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Alessia's gaze remained fixed on the clock directly before her. The unrelenting digits displayed 08:30 am, and in her current state of exhaustion, the prospect of rousing herself seemed utterly impossible. She felt as though she could sleep indefinitely, embracing a slumber that stretched into eternity. Yet, she knew her professor had assigned an article that was waiting to be read, demanding her immediate attention.

Alessia couldn't fathom why fatigue had chosen this particular day to engulf her. If exhaustion were to rear its head, it should have been the day prior, when she had engaged in a sparring match against Caius. Today, in contrast, she had merely engaged in conversation with Helios. Reflecting on the situation, Alessia realized that she had never truly assessed the amount of time she spent in the past. It could range from a fleeting hour to God-knows-how-many, but she had never given it much consideration until now.

Alessia understood that asking Aro or Caius would likely yield responses beyond her comprehension. Conversely, she harbored the certainty that Helios, with his depth of knowledge, could shed light on how much time she normally spent with him.

Her trust in this stemmed from her knowledge about Ancient Egypt, which had always fascinated her. Egypt had created an ingenious device that divided their day into two 12-hour segments, totaling 24 hours. Although she had to recognize that these hours were not uniform in length, for they adjusted with the changing seasons — longer during summer's daylight and shorter in the winter's darkness.

(Her fascination with Egyptian civilization ran deep, and she often pondered the historical injustices that had obscured their contributions. Among her many grievances, she couldn't help but seethe over the prevalence of mathematical concepts and principles bearing the names of ancient Greek individuals. Evidence suggested that the Greeks had, in fact, learned from the Egyptians, who had long created the knowledge before the Greeks even started to think about it. The Pythagorean Theorem was a prime example, though it was just one among many accomplishments wrongly attributed to the Greeks.)

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That evening, Alessia found herself so profoundly fatigued that she surrendered to sleep immediately after stepping out of the shower. It was a mere 9 pm, and the notion of retiring to bed at such an early hour felt foreign and unsettling. Yet, the weariness that enveloped her left no room for debate.

In her dreamscape, Aro and Caius found themselves locked in a sparring match, their movements a symphony of precision and grace, with Didyme conspicuously absent. Alessia felt strange just observing them without the intention of appearing, but it was fine in this case, especially because the sight of them locked in combat was a familiar one, given how much she had dreamed of them.

Alessia sat on the floor by the wall, legs crossed, her elbow resting on her thigh, her right cheek resting on her closed fist. With no knowledge of combat, she made no attempt to comprehend the intricacies of the fight. Instead, she slowed down the pace of her dreams, allowing herself to scrutinize her friends' sparring match more closely.

Alessia could confidently assert one thing: Aro clearly possessed greater skill than her, which she already knew. It seemed probable that he surpassed Didyme, though this might be attributed to Didyme's limited training time and Alessia's limited observations of her. Nonetheless, despite his abilities, Aro ultimately succumbed to Caius in their match, just as she had seen happen every time they fought.