Timeless Ties || Volturi Kings

21. Birds

When the Moon is lookin' down
Shinin' light upon your ground
I'm flyin' up to let you see
That the shadow cast is me

— Imagine Dragons, Elisa

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A sigh escaped Alessia as she stared at her laptop screen, her head throbbing persistently despite the medication she had taken. Reluctant to face the pain, she knew it would linger, especially considering all she had recently uncovered.

Aro had inundated her with an overwhelming amount of information that left Alessia deeply concerned. What made matters worse was that it wasn't just one thing; Aro had openly shared details about everything he had discovered, and it was an extensive list. The most distressing aspects numbered five, and each one only added to Alessia's growing sense of unease.

First of all, Athenodora was aware that Alessia had a gift. Fortunately, she wasn't absolutely certain about what the gift entailed, and she was planning to keep this knowledge to herself, knowing that it posed an advantage, just pondering about discussing it with Sulpicia and attempting to extract information from Helios.

As per Aro's account, Athenodora had observed that Alessia matched the exact description Sulpicia had provided, and surprisingly, she was still human. These revelations seemed implausible to Athenodora, given everything. After all, it had been 25 years since Sulpicia returned from a meeting with Ramesses, talking about encountering "Markellos' strange human." This description, while initially somewhat off-putting to Alessia, made sense when considering that vampires from 1300 BC would indeed find her peculiar. The fact that her friends handled Alessia so well seemed nothing short of a miracle.

Athenodora had concluded that Alessia's lack of aging, despite being human, could only be explained by a gift, leaving no room for alternative explanations. She was contemplating a bet with Sulpicia regarding the nature of this gift. At present, Athenodora was inclined to believe it involved just delayed aging, because of a past encounter with a human possessing this specific ability. This revelation left Alessia with a mix of amazement and horror. The thought of aging at a slower rate than normal seemed both intriguing and dreadful — imagining enduring the challenges of the teenage years for an extended period was a concept that struck Alessia with a blend of fascination and disgust.

Caius expressed significant concern and suggested taking preemptive action against Athenodora before she gained too much knowledge about Alessia. Aro admitted he had considered it but ultimately dismissed the idea. He cited Athenodora's importance and her connection to the Delhi Coven through her mate, Sulpicia. Killing her might attract unwanted attention, and Athenodora herself was apparently a very skilled fighter. Aro also highlighted Athenodora's habit of teasing Helios as a crucial factor. She always had playful interactions with Helios, attempting to provoke reactions from him because he never reacted to anything. This provided her with an ongoing challenge and a source of amusement, contributing to her mental well-being. Which, in turn, created a protective shield around Alessia by association.

Caius and Didyme appeared to consider this line of thinking very rational, but Alessia found herself unsure of how to process the information. The idea that Athenodora's engagement in teasing Helios served as a means to ward off boredom and potential descent into madness, ultimately creating a protective barrier around Alessia due to her association with Helios, struck Alessia as rather peculiar.

̶A̶l̶e̶s̶s̶i̶a̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶v̶i̶n̶c̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶s̶i̶n̶g̶l̶e̶ ̶v̶a̶m̶p̶i̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶n̶e̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶a̶p̶y̶.̶

Secondly, Athenodora had assimilated Alessia's language. Yet, it wasn't limited to just Alessia's mother tongue. Athenodora had also absorbed Alessia's proficiency in Spanish, as it happened to be one of the two languages, along with Italian, that Alessia knew and were similar to Brazilian Portuguese.