"You lost."

The hauntingly familiar voice forced Aro from his thoughts, milky red eyes shooting to the trees around their guard. The heavily wooded area was dense and dark, the canopy above barely allowing any light to filter through to the ground below, bathing them in shadows. It was only then that he noticed the darkness was too complete to be natural, the air crackling with power and warning.

Once his guard took note of the threat – snarling and hissing – he chose to answer. "I lost what exactly?" he questioned the air surrounding them. His eyes continued their search, picking apart every shadow and speck of light.

"The fight, your pride..." A female voice sighed almost sympathetically. "Take your pick."

Caius was almost trembling with rage, the reminder of their most recent failure already succeeding in becoming a sore spot for the white haired man. "We lost nothing," he spat out. "There was no fight, no war to win or to lose. We were having a trial, and the coven was clean and sinless."

"Sinless? No vampiric being is sinless."

A figure came into the small clearing they were standing in, a lithe form clothed in black sauntering through the woods. Aro immediately began to study her measured features, eyes flickering over the deep red lips and ever changing eyes.

Oh... Oh dear.

"I did not know you had surfaced," Aro spoke into the silence, refusing to show his discomfort as he bowed at the waist.

The demon made a small noise, brushing an imagining speck of dust off her shoulder. "I don't make a habit out of telling vampiric overlords that I've taken human form, despite the fact that you could do nothing to harm it," she informed the ancient male with a small smirk. "And, in reference to your comment, there are many things you don't know."

Caius growled quietly, earning another amused look. "We don't make it our business to deal with the underworld," he sneered venomously. "Your kind means nothing to us."

"My kind should mean the world to you," she answered with heat, her features remaining blank. "Seeing as I can end said world with a snap of my – nicely manicured – fingers." As if to emphasis her words, she began to pick at the darkly painted nails, their length strangely threatening despite the innocent oval curve.

Aro chuckled soothingly, hoping to appease both sides with the carefree notion. "We do not keep track of the underworld as it is none of our business just as the nomads take no care with us," he comforted. "It is solely out of respect."

"Respect," she murmured. "Finally you seem to get something right today."

Aro looked between the silver but somehow golden eyes, and the red eyes of his clan and brothers. "You were present during our negotiations?" he questioned. "Why did you not show yourself?" The thought of the creature watching him and his coven was chilling and worrying in the very least. These monsters weren't something to be meddled with as he'd learnt so many, many years ago.

Her especially.

Long hair bounced with a gentle nod. "Oh, yes I was present," she admitted. "Word got to me quickly about the hybrid child and the wolf protecting it. Forgive me but I had to see with my own eyes without others seeing me."

"The wolves?" Aro inquired. "They are mindless beasts, why would such a creature interest you?" His words were carefully chosen, sating the vampires hiding behind his coven while hiding his own worry.

The creature pursed her lips, the blood red colour drawing attention. "Mindless beasts? I think you saw for yourself that they are more a threat than the hybrid," she cocked a brow. "Considering they are designed to kill your kind, I would find myself fearing for my well-being if I were you."

Aro struggled to hold the woman's gaze; fighting against the urge to look away. "They are no threat," he announced, more to himself than to the mumbling vampires behind him. "If they were, we would've eliminated them by now. And seeing as their breed of mutt still lives on, I say they are no threat to me and mine."

"Me and mine?" she parroted. "Shouldn't you be concerned with the whole vampiric nation? Isn't that who you've sworn to protect?"

Aro almost cursed his poor choice of words. "I consider the whole nation to be my children, my lady. So they are mine," he lied easily. "Hence my words."

"You're lying but you were creative so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," she decided before humming under her breath. "You are not fit to rule a race the way you are, but you do hold a semblance of order."

Caius hissed. "We are fit to sit in the throne of power and shall continue to be, so watch your tongue or I shall cut it out."

The laughter that left the being had Aro wincing and cursing his brother under his breath. "Oh, really?" she breathed, chuckling. "Caius you are young and ruthless, I'll give you that. But you're stupid."

"He meant no disrespect," Aro soothed.

"Oh he did," she corrected. "He meant to put me in my place, but what he doesn't know is that my place is high above his." She turned a deadly glare on the vampire, the ever-changing metallic shades of her eyes turning an endless black. "Your blood shall be spilt long before mine leech, so if there is a tongue in need of watching, it is yours."

Aro shot his brother a warning look before Caius could further dig them into a hole of destruction. "He shall remain silent, and you have my sincerest apologies," he offered, both hands out before him in surrender.

"Oh if only those words meant anything," she cooed mockingly. "You have managed to insult me yet again."

Aro internally winced at the reminder of their last meeting. "And both times we have meant our words with the utmost respect," he soothed once again. "You only misunderstand our true intentions."

"Your true intentions," she mused before shaking her head in disappointment. "I would like an explanation on that point."

Aro startled back, blinking in confusion at the innocent question. "I do not understand? Our true intentions are to uphold the peace and ensure a world where our kind can live without fear. We strive for a world that is clean and ordered, as all leaders should. We only want what is best for our kind."

The being nodded, her eyes blacking out once again before she began moving away, turning her back on them and beginning to head back towards the tree line. Her shoulders were relaxed and her stride comfortable despite the army of immortals behind her. The insult of the action made a bitter taste form on Aro's tongue.

"Wrong answer," she declared, throwing a smirk their way before disappearing into the unnatural shadows.