After their feast with the two dozen American tourists the three Volturi masters came back to their thrones to discuss what Aro had seen from Edward's mind. "Do you wish to know what I have uncovered my brothers?" Aro asked.

"I'd rather not hear about their pathetic existence. The Cullens as a whole disgust me," Caius said scornfully.

"Entertain me with the story," Marcus said while staring off into space.

"It seems you have been outvoted," Aro turned to Caius. "But I assure you it will be worth your time."

"Very well. You may proceed," Caius said bitterly.

"The Cullens have been acting as teenage students at a high school in Washington State. That is a province on the Pacific Ocean near the Canadian border. Charlise has been acting as the town doctor and as the adopted father of the other Cullens," Aro began.

"How far Charlise has fallen," Caius sneered.

"Are not the Cullens all lovers?" Marcus asked.

"Yes, but they pretend to be adopted brothers and sisters," Aro explained.

Marcus frowned at that. "So, they are students at this academy for a few years and then…?" Marcus asked.

"Then they go to another location and continue the process again. They have dozens of diplomas collected," Aro said.

"How do they register for this academy without academic records from their previous school?" Marcus wondered.

"They hire a man by the name of…Jenkins to give them falsified records," Aro replied.

"The Cullens have exposed our secret to this Jenkins. The Cullens and this Jenkens must be eliminated," Caius demanded.

"Not today," Marcus muttered.

"I am going to have to agree with him on this one," Aro said to Caius.

"How long have they been to these academies?" Marcus asked.

"For decades," Aro said amazed.

"A complete waste of time," Caius cut in.

Aro shrugged at that. "They feed off the local animals for nourishment. They do not kill human beings," Aro said.

"These Cullens…coexist peacefully…with the humans," Marcus smiled warmly.

"Pathetic…a disgrace," Caius said bitterly.

"It appears our dear Edward discovered Bella at this academy. She was the only one he couldn't read," Aro continued.

"That's because there's nothing there. Did you see the look on her face, and you want to make her an immortal," Caius said displeased.

"The two look beautiful together," Marcus remarked.

"So, he told her his secret in the forest, but she did not run away. He showed her to the other Cullens and then they played baseball," Aro said.

"Baseball…," Marcus muttered.

"What is this baseball you speak of?" Caius demanded.

"It's hard to explain. A person throws a small ball at another and the person defends themselves by swinging a piece of wood or metal which hits the ball a far distance," Aro said.

"The Cullens will surely expose our kind playing this baseball," Caius accused.

"Oh Caius, they only play during thunderstorms far away from the city," Aro consoled him.

"Tell me about their love," Marcus requested.

Aro searched for the right words. "It's like a deep infatuation. It's quite remarkable how shallow it is. They don't have anything in common and she has no desirable traits. The only thing that makes her interesting is that she possesses a shield."

"Surely Edward took her and possessed her," Caius smirked ruthlessly.

"Actually no. He's waiting for marriage," Aro answered.

Marcus turned in his chair to actually look Aro in the eye. Caius had a stupefied expression on his face. "Our poor Edward hasn't had sex in many decades," Aro said.

"How is this possible? I cannot fathom abstaining for two days!" Caius doubted.

"Not everyone is as passionate as you," Aro told him. "Apparently he's been waiting for over a century for Bella."

"How romantic," Marcus muttered.

"It's positively queer," Caius observed.

"Tell us about their courtship," Marcus asked.

"He watches her while she sleeps," Aro said. There was a silence between the three for a moment.

"Moving on with the story, they are then confronted by three nomadic vampires named Laurent, Victoria, and James," Aro said.

"I enjoyed our last visit with them. Victoria and James appeared to be deeply in love," Marcus said warmly.

"They're also brother and sister," Aro reported.

Caius gave Aro a frown of disgust while Marcus pondered. "James decided to hunt Bella for sport so the Cullens moved Bella, but they were discovered none-the-less. Edward defeated James and the Cullens destroyed him. Bella was bitten but Edward sucked the venom out," Aro said.

"So, Edward could have allowed the change but prevented it," Caius said with an accusing tone.

"Why did the Cullens move her?" Marcus asked.

"They went different ways to confuse James," Aro explained.

"But he's one and they are seven," Marcus continued.

"They should have simply hunted James down and killed him while guarding Bella," Caius said.

"Things become clearer after the fact," Aro allowed. "Now that I think about it the Cullens knew of the wolves in the area too. They could have coordinated an alliance to bait and destroy James instead of dividing their forces."

"The Cullens have been consorting with werewolves?" Caius asked outraged.

"They're not really werewolves but shape shifters," Aro told him.

"Tell us more Aro," Marcus asked.

"Later on the Cullens celebrated Bella's 18th birthday. "But unfortunately she had a paper cut from the wrapping and the one named Jasper Cullen attacked her," Aro said.

"You can get a paper cut from present wrapping?" Caius questioned.

"Apparently so. Edward felt he and the Cullens needed to leave to keep Bella safe," Aro said.

"Safe from what?" Marcus asked.

"Themselves apparently," Aro speculated.

"What of the other two nomads?" Caius asked.

"They're still in the area wanting to kill Bella," Aro said.

"So, the Cullens left Bella unprotected against two nomads under the pretense that they were protecting her from themselves?" Caius asked.

"Exactly so," Aro said.

"Later Alice received a vision that Bella had leaped to her death. She then told Rosalie Cullen and she told Edward. Shortly thereafter Edward came to us wishing to die," Aro said.

"Did Edward confirm that Bella was dead? Did he talk to the original source or the girl's father? Did he intend to go to the funeral? Did he read the obituaries?" Caius asked.

"He was told there was a funeral by another person," Aro said simply.

"Did he confirm the funeral was Bella's?" Caius asked.

"He did not," Aro replied. "Alice then went to find out what had happened and found our Bella safe and sound," Aro smiled.

"Surely she used that modern technology to tell Edward she was alive," Marcus considered.

"He ignored his phone and then left without a cell phone," Aro said.

"Did Alice call our office to tell us what had happened so we could have told Edward when he arrived?" Caius asked.

"She did not. I am not sure he would have believed us," Aro said sadly.

"But if this Bella were on the phone we could have had Edward talk to her through our phone," Caius pointed out.

"I don't think it occurred to them my brother," Aro said.

"This is sounding strange Aro," Marcus remarked.

"So, Bella and Alice come to Volterra and she stops Edward from exposing himself in the sunlight," Aro said.

"Why is being exposed to the sunlight a problem?" Caius asked.

"It exposes our kind," Aro said as if it were obvious.

"Do the humans know that vampires sparkle in the sun?" Caius asked.

"Well, no," Aro admitted.

"I don't sparkle," Marcus said softly.

"Anyway…that's when we met them," Aro concluded.

Jane, Felix, Dimitri, and Alec then entered the room and knelt down before the three masters. "There is word that the nomad named Victoria has created an army near the Cullens. She intends to use it to destroy them for killing her mate James," Jane reported.

The three looked at each other. "I think it best if you allow the two sides to destroy themselves but keep a good watch on this development," Aro said.

"I second this motion," Caius said immediately.

"I also agree," Marcus said.

"As you wish master," Jane said and then the four left.