Stregoni Benefici Chapter 16: Darkness Round the Sun, a twilight fanfic

Author's Note: Okay, so, in my defense, it's actually not my fault that it took so long to post this. I finished it quite a while ago, but Fanfiction has been giving me issues with uploading documents for a couple weeks. Finally, I tried again, so here it is. Enjoy.

Chapter 15
Darkness Round The Sun

Bella

"Let's get this party started!"

I glanced over at my Italian bodyguard. "You have got to stop listening to American pop music." He grinned. "And don't be so eager to start a fight. You're starting to sound like Emmett."

The "yes ma'am" from Demetri was drowned out by the "HEY!" from Emmett.

"Okay people, what's our plan?" Enho, always the strategist. We were all gathered around our rental cars at the base of the mountain we knew Nathan to be on. From the sounds of it, he had recruited quite a few vampires, and I don't think they were all newborns, per say. He probably got a couple nomad clans. I'm not exactly popular among rebellious vampires.

"Don't die," I responded.

"You mean we came all the way out here without a plan?" asked Akiko incredulously. "Just what exactly were you doing all night, then?"

Demetri sniggered as I blushed. Edward coughed and looked away. I glared at Demetri; I refuse to be embarrassed about what happened last night. It was a beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime experience that I wouldn't change for anything.

"Shut up, all of you. Of the nine of us, who's in charge here?" I asked testily. Silence. "That's what I thought. And of all of us, I'm also the only one who needs to sleep. Why didn't any of you come up with a plan?" No answer. "No. So here's the plan: I kill Nathaniel. No one else touches him. Take care of the nomads; Nathan is mine. Don't die."

"Isabella, with all due respect, you can't handle him on your own," Eran stated calmly. "Let's just look at past instances; he always gets the best of you."

I took no offense because he had a point. I've been after him since I was inducted into the Volturi. No one has ever bested me like this and it was getting tiresome.

"Yes, I know, which is why I need everyone away from me. I need to concentrate and if one of you is in danger, that will never happen. Besides, as soon as we find Vanni, she'll provide additional help."

"I don't like this, Bella," Edward informed me, pulling me away for at least a guise of privacy. "This is too dangerous. I could help you. Please, let me help you."

-
Somewhere there's a sea that has no other side
Somewhere there's an airplane lost beyond the sky
So fly us up above the clouds
Live your life, where you are now
-

It broke my heart to deny my love anything, but I had to. "I'm sorry Edward, but I can't. I cannot put you in anymore danger. I didn't even want your family here, but you caught me before I could leave. Try to see things from my perspective – if this was your battle, you would want me as far away as physically possible."

"He would probably calculate the distance and carry you to the other side of the earth!" Alice called out, throwing her opinion in. I smirked and Edward, Alice having proven my point.

He was silent; perhaps he finally understood where I was coming from. He nodded once, agreeing with me, before pulling me close and pressing his lips roughly against mine. It was desperate, reminding me very much of his kisses so many years ago leading up to abandoning me.

"Don't you leave me, Isabella Swan," he whispered when he pulled away. "I just got you back. I can't lose you again, my love. Come back to me, you hear me? You come back to me."

If vampires could cry, we would both be sobbing. I kissed him one last time, whispered my love for him, then shot up the mountain.

-
In the darkness round the sun
There's light behind your eyes
When you've lost the will to run
You can feel it start to shine
When the rain falls down so hard
And you don' t know where to start
Drowning in the sun
-

Edward

I watched her go. More importantly, I let her go. This was her battle. The final battle for this ongoing war between Bella and Nathaniel. But I would be sure there were no surprises.

"Come on!" I called out to the others. "We have to keep Nathan's army off her back!" I took off running – "Let's go!" – and heard the others start to follow.

We reached the top of the mountain in minutes, and it didn't take very long to find them. There were about 20 other vampires, and they were standing in a circle around Bella and Nathan, who were both in fighting stances. The army was being held back by Bella; she had one hand extended back towards the vampires and the other aimed at Nathan.

I reached the circle first and grabbed two vampires by the neck. Akiko, I just learned, controls fire. The second she reached the clearing, a fire was started for us to throw pieces in. The first vampire I grabbed was headless and thrown into the fire the moment I touched him – the element of surprise. The other one quickly fought back. Everyone had already grabbed another vampire to fight, but we were severely outnumbered. Bella and Nathan had broken their stand off once Bella was able to focus on him instead of the other vampires, and I looked over in time to see him rush her. In response, she used her new power to throw him away from her.

"Akiko!" she shouted. "Akiko, gimme a roff!"

At first I didn't understand, but when Akiko moved her hands in a circular pattern and fire suddenly surrounded Bella and Nathan, I got it. ROF, not roff. ROF – Ring of Fire. Creative. The few that had remained circling the two jumped back, screaming when they caught fire. It made it much easier to fight them.

I grabbed another vampire by the hair and twisted one of her arms off. She howled and swiped at me, leaving claw marks on the side of my face. I heard Bella cry out in pain, but couldn't even look; I had two of my own vampires to deal with. I pushed one off me as the other knocked me backwards. From the ground, I kicked up and my feet connected with his chest. As I jumped up, I took a quick glance at Bella. There were now three people inside the ring of fire instead of two. The newest addition was a redheaded female. Not exactly Victoria-colored hair – it was lighter. It appeared she was on Bella's side. I went back to fighting, feeling much better knowing Bella had help. I heard another scream, but when I looked up, it wasn't what I expected.

And then, Nathan was without a head. Marvelous.

Bella

"Akiko! Akiko, gimme a ROF!" She's never done it in battle, I don't think. At least not with me, but I've seen her do it during training. It worked like a charm though, and I watched with grim satisfaction as the vampires that had been surrounding us were forced back. The others would deal with them.

"Looks like it's just the two of us," I told him smugly. His cronies wouldn't be able to interfere. Fighting him was easier now than it used to be – now that I know about my powers. I attempted to dodge him, but in doing so, knocked myself over. Wow, I feel like an idiot. Even with vampire grace, I'm still a klutz. Before I could raise myself off the ground, Nathan was on top of me

"This looks like a fun position," he whispered silkily. "Shall we explore the perfect, untouchable body of Ms. Isabella Swan?"

I grinned up at him. "I won't argue the perfect front, but I'm not exactly untouched anymore."

The smirk on his face faded away and he growled. "You let him touch you!?" I just smirked at him and he backhanded me. "No one else is allowed to touch you! You are mine!"

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously not."

"Shut up, you stupid bitch!" I'd never seen him so emotional. He usually kept himself very calm and confident. This was good; people make stupid mistakes when they're angry. He knocked me backwards into the fire and held me there. My hands caught fire, as well as my face. I screamed out in pain as I felt my flesh burning away. Okay, so anger was not a pretty thing on Nathaniel.

"Akiko!" I called out weakly. Almost instantly I stopped burning and the flames nearest to me and disappeared. A blur ran in and tackled Nathan off of me. I scrambled away from the ring, and the flame barrier returned.

"I found your red-headed friend," Akiko called out, smiling as she propelled herself off a vamp's back and back flipped through midair. "She seemed a bit pissed that she got captured. I thought it best to let her vent her anger in a useful way."

I grinned as I stood back for a moment and merely watched as Vanni Monacelli completely whaled on Nathan. She was everywhere at once – even with my vampire enhanced human eyes, she was little more than a blur. After a moment, I decided to step in. Nathan was done' it's time his existence came to an end. I came up behind him, jumped on his back, and twisted his head off his shoulders. I then used my telekinesis to float it over into the fire while Vanni took care of the rest of his body.

-
Somewhere someone thinks they've found the perfect love
And they think you've found the answer to all of this
So hang on sometimes we miss it
I'll be your perfect kiss
-

The fighting was diminishing around us. All of Nathan's newborn army began to give up when they saw their leader fall. We took no prisoners. Vanni was like a machine at rounding them up. She was an amazing fighter when she was ticked, and nothing makes her angrier than being successfully kidnapped.

"But don't forget, I was a major pain in his ass for my entire capture," she reminded me. Of this I have no doubt.

I searched through the chaos looking for Edward. He was standing next to Carlisle; the two were having another one of their silent conversations. I sighed in relief. He was alive; okay; and appearing to be in one piece.

All of a sudden, I felt very faint. "Vanni," I called out weakly. She turned towards me immediately. "I think the adrenaline is wearing off…"

And then it was black.

Epilogue to follow soon-ish.