Previously: Isabella is released to Aro and sent into exile with Aro, Caius, Marcus, and Athenodora., Aro and Isabella fight, Aro finds out that Isabella never betrayed him, the brothers find out that Isabella made a deal with the Other involving Stefan's soul, Isabella is told he cannot die without his soul, Stefan takes a trip to the Void for answers, Isabella has been using her connection to Stefan to spy on them, Isabella seems to be getting ready to do something stupid, and they make finalpreparationsfor battle.

Chapter 17: Our Souls

The sky flashed, and not a moment later, thunder sounded. The rain came down without mercy. I didn't bother to blink away the acidic water as it rolled over my eyes on its way to the ground. Jasper stood to my left, and Aro stood to my right. Aro was turned talking to his Brothers. Jasper wasn't speaking, but he was sending me a steady wave of calm. I was pretty sure he suspected that I didn't plan to live through this fight. He wasn't bothering me about it though, and the fact that he trusted me enough to keep quiet comforted me.

"Alright Isabella, are you sure you are okay with this plan?" Marcus asked, watching me closely.

"Seeing the Whitlocks come rolling in will soften them up for Aro and Caius." I replied, knowing it had to be this way. The four of us would roll in with a few others, aura ablaze, announcing the beginning of the battle. Aro would follow in with the Volturi aura powered up as well. The combination would be enough to let our remaining allies know what was coming while also striking fear into our enemies. Jasper could have a little fun with his gift then, creating a bit of chaos. Some would stay by to take out our enemies. That was when I would make my move to facing Stefan and the Void. "Just focus on Vladimir, Fyodor, and the others. I am taking care of Stefan on my own."

"Not that I doubt you, Bella." Carlisle spoke up from further in the back of our group of fighters. "Are you sure that you will be alright alone against Stefan?"

"Yes, Carlisle. Thank you for your concern though. Vladimir is the stronger fighter of the two, so I will leave him to the Brothers and the Major." I replied, gaining Aro's attention.

"Besides, Isabella learned a lot about Stefan during her little trip to Romania. With that knowledge of Stefan and her shield, he will not stand a chance." Aro informed, sounding almost gleeful. I felt my heart twinge painfully, causing the spectral world to shudder slightly. Jasper strengthened the wave of calm for a moment before I regained control of myself. Marcus was looking at me strangely as well now. The loosening of control on my emotions had let Jasper and Marcus in on the fact that I was not as confident in this plan as I was trying to seem.

"Let us hunt for the battle then. Isabella, would you accompany me?" Marcus asked, looking at me in a way that made it obvious I was not going to be able to refuse him. Holding back an exasperated sigh, I nodded and followed him to a nearby town. We hunted in silence. The blood tasted stale on my tongue, thick like Styrofoam. I had to force myself to keep drinking. I would need the energy. I still could barely finish the average sized female I had chosen before I just sat off to the side waiting for Marcus to finish.

"Time for us to talk, I think." Marcus said, coming to stand next to where I was sitting. He did not waste time. "Aro does not seem to understand what possession of a soul truly means. I do not pretend to understand with perfect clarity myself, but I do know that it affects you far more than Aro would ever be willing to accept. You have taken part of him into you, and it has begun to change you. I suspect that you are unable to simply give him back his soul, or you would not be so withdrawn. You would not feel so resolutely hopeless, as the Major describes it to me. It seems that you are saying goodbye to us all. Your relationships are becoming distant, and you do it with purpose."

I stayed silent, staring pointedly at a spot on the floor near my feet. I hadn't noticed the way I had been sitting, hugging my legs, but I wasn't comfortable unfolding while Marcus insisted on keeping up this topic. "And?" I finally whispered into the silence, realizing Marcus wasn't going to continue until I spoke.

"Do you plan to take him into the fire with you?" Marcus asked calmly, and my eyes shot to his own in shock. I had not expected him to speak so plainly. I found myself just staring at him, dumbfounded. How could I admit that, yes… that had been exactly my plan? Marcus nodded to himself, almost has if he had heard my thoughts. "You and I are more alike than you know, Isabella. I have just grown jaded over the centuries. I, too, was once a being of selflessness and that sense of duty, all anti-war and hopelessly romantic. I have suffered too much for any more of that. It all left me when I watched my brothers hunt down and burn the love of my life, and I stood by and let them. In a moment of torn loyalties, I let my inner debate on the morality of my choices stop me from making one at all. I have lived for centuries since then knowing that I would have preferred any of my possible choices to this hell that I live. I could have jumped into the fire with her. I could have pulled my brothers with us into that pyre that they built as well. I could have killed them before stepping into their dying fires. I could have left Italy and NEVER looked back. Do you understand what I am trying to tell you?"

His eyes were sterner than I had ever seen them. I felt him openly tighten and tug on the tenuous strings of our relationship, making me aware of exactly how much of this world he knew and could control. He seemed to grab onto and possess me as one of his own, weaving our relationship into that of father and daughter in not five seconds. In that moment, I saw the man that had conquered the world, creating a network of allies across continents. I saw the Hoplite that had looked into the soul of a young and ambitious Aro, cementing himself as a Volturi with but a handful of words. I saw the man that had been my only steady support in Volterra though all of this. I saw the King he used to be.

"There is no other way to end this." I found myself admitting, and then it seemed the floodgates had opened. I told him everything. "The Other made me take Stephan's soul to leave the Void, and he made me promise to never give it back or take it from the Void. If I do, he comes for me. I would become the soul that powers the Void."

"If you both go into the fire, you do this thing anyway." He replied harshly in distaste, nearly spitting as he rolled his eyes at me. "We all go to the Void in the end. It is not a prison except to those that sell themselves to the Other. The Void requires us. How did Aro put it? 'It is the fuel that keeps immortality on Earth burning.' What you will do is sell yourself for eternity to this gatekeeper for nothing more than an earthly war."

"I don't know what else to do." I whispered brokenly.

"Give him to me." Marcus practically demanded, shocking me again. Give him Stefan's soul? Make him deal with my burden?

"And damn you?!" I asked, my voice raising an octave in my displeasure.

"I AM ALREADY DAMNED!" Marcus shouted in the language of his youth, his voice reverberating off the sky like thunder, sending the world into near stillness as his voice echoed to nothing. "I am already damned." He said again, quietly this time. I watched him for a moment, unsure what I should do, what I could do. When I finally spoke, it was with renewed calm.

"How bound is the Other to the deals that he makes?" I asked, finally seeing the logic behind what Marcus wanted.

"He puts these promises into the stone of the Earth. He is as bound to his word as humans are bound to death. It must be as it is promised. All returns to dust in the end." Marcus replied sternly, his fury quieted once more.

"Then you would not be bound by my deal. You would not have to serve as a soul to power the Void." I said, musing. I had agreed to not give back Stefan's soul or remove it from the Void… I'd never agreed to not give it to another. This could work as a loophole quite nicely, but to sacrifice Marcus for this end? I didn't know if it was the right thing to do.

"I have lived for centuries since then knowing that I would have preferred any of my possible choices to this hell that I live." Marcus repeated his own earlier words. He waited until I was looking him in the eyes to continue. "Do not hesitate. I will be ready to do my part if you choose to go with my plan, but do not hesitate to choose something. Do not stand idly by while you lose everything. Even a wrong choice is better than not having the strength to make a choice at all."

He left it at that. Marcus stood, nodded formally to me to dismiss himself, and walked back to where the others were waiting for the battle. I took only another brief moment to collect myself before moving to rejoin our comrades.

Jasper and I were going to lead the first of three groups into the castle. We would have Peter, Charlotte, Marcus, and the Cullens. We would also be picking up any loyal members we met along the way while leaving others back to defend our flanks. Aro was leading the second group, joined by the Amazonians, the Denalis, the Ævarssons, Jane, Alec, Felix, and Renata. This would be the group that would soften the Romanians up but keep moving. The last group was led by Caius and Athenodora, joined by the Kyoto, Finnish, Egyptian, and Orlando Covens. The ten nomads that had joined us would be with Caius as well. They would be the heavy fighters in charge of clean up. We had it all figured out.

I still had no idea what I was going to do about Stefan, but I knew Marcus was right about one thing. Inaction would be worse. I made eye contact with Jasper first, and he waved me over. He didn't say anything when I reached him, just touched my shoulder and sent me a strange mix of emotions to amp me up for the coming battle. I didn't try to hide my turmoil anymore. I looked him dead in the eye and let myself think about the worst case scenarios that I had imagined in my mind. Feeling my indecision, Jasper's grip got stronger.

"You just let me know. This is your battle. I will follow your direction when you make a move." The Major drawled, his eyes darkening from the emotions of the tense moment. My heart filled with gratitude, and I nodded in reply. Aro's attention turned to us, and I stepped away from Jasper. The throng of vampires we had gathered seemed to know that it was time. The silence hung heavier than the clouds above. The rain drops shattering on the city streets concealing the minor sounds we would make, like the swooshing of our cloaks. We waited for his command, and when it came, it came with the roaring of thunder.

"Move out." The Vulture ordered, gliding silently across the cobblestone towards the fortress. We followed automatically, pulled by the strings of our enflamed coven auras. Carlisle had insisted on the Cullens moving near the front the group. He said he and Alice would be more useful if placed at a checkpoint to keep a watch early on. I happened to agree. Together, they could act on a threat before it even presented itself. Edward had not come, but all the others had followed when Carlisle announced to them that he was answering my call. It was nice to know that even though I was not part of their coven, perhaps not even friends, that we could still support one another when it mattered.

No one spoke. We simply acted. Everything had been planned out to the smallest detail and most obscure possibility. After all my espionage and counterintelligence to stop the war, once the entrance came into view, it was I who lead the charge. I held nothing back.

Jasper brought the Whitlock aura to life at the same time that I let loose my emotions, allowing the spectral plane free reign. I stayed focused on finding Stefan, while the Whitlocks cleared the way for me. We were almost to reception when Aro lead the Volutri in, enhancing the flame of the coven aura at the last minute. It was then that those in the castle seemed to realize who it was attacking them. Entering the throne room, I was met by Fyodor and Demetri.

The moment that Demetri saw me enter the room, he turned on Fyodor, removing the Romanian's head before he could react. With a casual toss, he handed the head off to Emmett, who took it and began to separate body parts to keep them from reforming at Carlisle's direction. The Cullens stayed there to keep any Romanians from following us further in.

"This way, Leading General." Demetri said, trying to hide his relieved smile and guiding us through the chaos swirling in the castle to the wing where the kings had their studies. He lead us to Caius's study, throwing the door open. Vladimir and Stefan stood tall and ready to face us.

"Aro afraid to fight his own battles?" Stefan spit, attempting to use his curse against me. I reacted automatically, tightening my awareness on his soul. It seemed to enrage him further, and he dove at us with an earth-shaking roar. Everything happened very quickly after that.

He didn't even make it passed the desk before I dropped him with a bit of Jane's gift. Vladimir took us all by surprise. Without pause, he moved forward, ripping his own brother's arm off and throwing it at me. I flinched, moving to dodge the arm, and so was distracted enough to not brace for the attack from Stefan. His cry of pain brought a heat into the room. It was like a thousand bugs crawling across my skin and burrowing into my brain. As we all thrashed and tried to think through this echo of the change, I took vague notice of Vladimir starting a fire in the oversize fireplace with some of the books on a nearby shelf. He did not hesitate as he jumped on one of the nearest Volturi Guard. He torn Corin in half and tossed her unceremoniously into the fire. He was on Heidi next, before a shrill battle cry ripped through the study, shaking the walls. Through the wall that was shared with Cauis's chambers, sending drywall over everything, came Sulpicia. She did not hesitate, and she began to savagely rip Vladimir to shreds. His screams seemed to move Stefan's instinctual rage from us to her.

"Sulpicia!" Marcus shouted, diving in front of her and taking the brunt of Stefan's newly directed attack. Heidi was already mostly in the fire, and Demetri threw her head in to end her suffering before diving into the fray. No one could get to the Count. Stefan was a live wire of Hell. There was no stopping him, not like this. I knew it in my very bones. I realized it was Peter's gift telling me at the same moment that he shouted.

"Do something, Bella!" Peter screamed harshly, and I knew he was right. We would all die here, or only one more of my coven could die today. I had to do something. Marcus had been right. I would regret far more if I did nothing. Falling to the ground as my despair made my knees useless, I reached into myself and grabbed hold of Stefan's soul. His gaze twisted to me so fast that his marble neck clicked and cracked. The burning of his curse returned, and he attacked me full on, but it was too late. His soul was mine no longer.

"Go to hell!" Stefan hissed at me, upping the strength of the torment, not noticing as Marcus came up behind him, already missing a chunk of his left arm.

"Come with me." Marcus savagely growled in the language of his youth, tackling Stefan straight into the fireplace. Marcus and Stefan fueled the fire so heavily that it seemed to scorch my sight for a moment. I let my body go limp, my head thudding onto the floor as what I had done finally hit me full force. The room was silent besides the echoes of screams and the flickering of the fire. I don't know how long the moment stretched before I heard boots clicking as someone approached me.

Vladimir's head thudded onto the ground before me, damaging the floor. I was able to raise my head just enough to see who it was that stood before me.

"My Queen," Sulpicia started, certainly grabbing my attention. She stood there calmly and professionally, her dress had ripped along her chest and stomach in the scuffle, showing off the multitude of scars that she bore. She was every bit an ancient warrior. For the first time since meeting her, she looked like she had in Aro's memories. "It is your honor as the highest ranking member of our coven available to burn the traitor king."

Vladimir's head was sneering and glaring at me. It was his fault that I had to sacrifice my king, my family. I let the cool rage give strength to my body. I stood slowly, never taking my eyes from Vladimir's. "No. It will be your honor, as the woman, a Volturi, that bested him."

His sneer seemed to grow, and Sulpicia grinned slightly. She gave a small bow to me and lifted his head. Our allies parted for her as she walked to the fireplace. There was no preamble with her. She simply tossed his head into the flames. It was over. Finally, for better or for worse, it was over.

.:!*!:.

Jasper and Sulpicia were the ones on my flanks as our group of survivors entered the throne room. Carlisle walked up to me immediately to report how things were going.

"No difficulties here. Alice saw that Aro will be here very soon. Word is that one or two from Aro's group went down, but Caius suffered no casualties. He needs some assistance burning the last of the traitors and would like Jasper and Marcus to help him pick out any remaining traitors among the castle's ranks." Even as Carlisle reported this, he was looking around at our numbers, seeming to notice the missing members. I could see the horror entering his expression when Jasper stepped up.

"Demetri and I will go to Caius. Come with us. The family can help with the clean-up. Isabella and Sulpicia will be fine here." He said softly, Carlisle just nodded, watching me with sadness and understanding in his gaze. Jasper lead him away, the rest of the Cullens following. Peter spoke up the moment they were out of hearing range.

"Char and I will take care of logistics. Aro should hear about Marcus from you two." He said, gesturing to me and Sulpicia. I had to agree, although I did not want to so much as speak of it yet. He should hear it from me, as I was to blame.

Aro walked in then, giving orders to Jane and Alec to take a group to search the fortress and make sure no one had been missed. Once they had left, Aro moved to us.

"We lost Felix. He was killed by Chelsea in retribution of Afton's execution, so she was destroyed as well. Kachiri of the Amazon Coven fell to a horde of Romanian fighters that flanked us. She fought well enough to give us time to react, or the whole Amazonian Coven would be ash." Aro reported, watching the two of us closely as he delivered the news of Felix's death. My heart ached stronger. We had lost so much of our coven's light. "What of your numbers, Isabella?"

"We picked up quite a few of our own on our way to face Vladimir and Stefan. We lost Corin and Heidi early on to Vladimir when Stefan used the full power of the spectral world against us. Sulpicia took Vladimir out easily, but Stefan…" I felt my throat closing up as I tried to speak. It took a moment to compose myself before I was able to speak again. "I let Marcus have him, Aro."

"Excuse me?" Aro asked, his voice going dark, as if it was only now dawning on him the choices I'd had available to me. I believed it was. He had let his ignorance of my deal with the Other keep him at ease. His voice was slow and threatening when he continued. "You said you were going to take care of it."

"I had to choose who died with him, Aro. The Other would not let me give Stefan back his soul or remove it from the Void. All I could do was sacrifice one of our immortal lives."

"So you choose my brother instead of yourself!" He roared, causing all the heads in the room to look our way.

"It was his idea… but yes. I am so sorry." I breathed, unable to even explain myself properly against the storm of emotion inside me. Aro's sorrow felt like my own. His anger felt welcome, deserved. He seemed to move forward on the balls of his feet as if to grab at me. Sulpicia was suddenly in front of me, and she shoved Aro back with both her hands on his chest. He nearly stumbled as shock combined dangerously with his anger.

"No." Sulpicia growled angrily under her breath. The sobs she held back were apparent in her voice as she continued to speak, but that sorrow only seemed to punctuate the resolve in her words. "You will act the fool no longer, Aro. You were not in that room. You did not see what I did, but you will. You shall calm down and let our Queen and General report to you, and you shall mourn with her. I will not stand by idle while you disrespect what Marcus died to preserve."

"She killed him, sure as if she had done it herself!" Aro yelled, turning his fury and broken-heartedness on Sulpicia now.

"He killed himself, Aro. He just finished the job we started centuries ago when we killed Didyme." She whispered woefully, moving forward to take his hands. She unfolded them gently, rubbing the cracks that had formed there from the fists he had made. We all waited as he watched her thoughts. Soon, his eyes came back to me from his and Sulpicia's hands. He made eye contact with me, looking more vulnerable than I had ever seen.

Unable to just stand there, I moved towards him. Sulpicia let go of him and smoothly moved out of the way. I did not hesitate, needing the comfort I knew I would only get from him, and threw myself into him. I wrapped my arms around his middle, hugging him for dear life, and let myself shake with tearless sobs. His arms raised slowly to close around my shoulders tightly. His sobs joined my own.

I barely heard as Sulpicia helped Peter and Char move everyone out of the room to give us a bit of privacy. I tried to focus solely on Aro's arms around me and the hole that Marcus's loss had left in our souls.

A/N: Getting very close to the end here. Just a couple more loose ends to tie up. The song for this chapter is Pisces by Jinjer. Thanks for reading and sticking with me!