A ceremony of abundance.

Now joined as one,

The Sultan and The Lunatik,

A love of the ages,

And a hatred for eternity.

Join me, dear reader,

In continuing their journey.

The state of being a half human hybrid was not ideal. Alice had insisted on carrying her to where the in laws dwelled. Bella profusely refused, yet was helpless against being dragged at a pace that was faster than she could run. Eternity has an odd way of occurring in moments of extreme discomfort. By the time Alice finally slowed down, Bella was out of breath and sweating profusely. Her left shoulder hurt from being tugged with a constant force.

Bella had to place her head down to ward off a moment of nausea. Edward was right. She simply was not consuming enough calories to be at optimal health.

Gentle hands fiddled with her hair, placing the escaping strands back into the bun that she had put in.

"Patience…." Bella gasped. "Is a virtue."

Alice laughed, pushing Bella back up and admonishing her about improper recovery skills. Bella was reminded that placing her head down was, in fact, the worst thing she could do for her lungs.

"Fuck… off," Bella glared at Alice.

The door in front of them did not look to be a part of the underground system of tunnels. The tunnel had been built around the small wooden door. There was a tiny cross etched into it.

Alice opened it and ushered Bella in. It led into another hallway. This new hallway did not have the sanitized metallic smell of the Underground. It smelled like dusty, old wood.

As she followed Alice, she realized that there were windows in this hallway. It was dark outside. She paused to stare at the sky. She knew that the sun would rise in a couple hours time. The universe was indifferent. Every single day the sun rose, and every single evening the moon replaced it. It did not care for Vampyres or Sultans. It did not care for humans.

Bella did.

A gentle tug pulled her back onto the trajectory towards the in-laws.

Bella knew their names. Aro, Caius, Marcus, the terrible three. It was they that had gotten tired of living in secret. It was they that decided that world domination did not sound like a bad idea. There was no one that dared tell them otherwise.

"Bella, don't be rash. Listen as though your life depends on it. Speak as though your death depends on it."

Bella had been planning to tell them otherwise. If they were her in-laws, then they should know on what side of the spectrum she fell on from the start.

"I wouldn't dare," Bella chuckled. Alice gripped Bella's forearm in warning.

Another set of doors opened to a room in which three men were sitting. Each had a desk that was covered in books and papers. They had been waiting.

Bella's plan of rashness dissipated as soon as she saw their faces. They were monsters.

Truly.

Wholly.

They had enslaved the human race, they were capable of so much more. Bella's dormant self preservation mechanism pulled all the breaks.

The one in the middle spoke.

"Thank you, Alice. We appreciate you bringing her to us."

Terror.

Bella felt like a child once more, terrified of the specters that hid in her closed. Except these specters had forced their way out of the darkness.

Terror so palpable that Bella could not bring herself to speak, to move, to function.

"My, my. She looks paler than you, Alice. I have heard much about her fiery spirit but unfortunately it looks like the tigress does not want to play," chuckled the middle one.

"Prudently," agreed the one on the right.

"How rude of us. We should introduce ourselves," the middle one continued. "My name is Aro. He is Caius, and he is Marcus."

All three of them had their gazes fixed on her.

"That's great," Bella heard herself say.

"Ahh," a look of complete joy passed Aro's face. "She speaks! What a lovely voice you have. Such a fascinating creature."

"I could say the same to you," Bella replied. All three laughed forcefully. Bella had to do everything she could to not to let her utter discomfort show.

Aro moved away from behind his desk and towards Bella. He was being considerate of her inferior senses.

"Hold out your hand, child."

Alice made a noise of protest but she was silenced by something. Bella did not look over to see by what. When pure evil tells you to hold out your hand…

Bella placed her hand in his. The eyebrows on the marble face furrowed.

"Your blood is truly enticing, Isabella," Aro yanked her closer to him. The intake of breath was audible.

Bella was offended and mute. It would be truly suicidal to speak now. Her insides twisted in repulsion. Evil felt like being within a python's grip. Helpless and endless.

"Your silence, though, is even more precious."

The one named Caius finally spoke.

"What do you mean, Aro? Silence?"

"I hold her hand and she does not speak to me." Aro's bewildered gaze moved from Bella's hand to Bella's eyes. Bella smiled at him. She did not know what else to do.

Aro dropped her hand and smiled back, menacingly.

"ENOUGH!" Alice's voice rang out. "I must take her back. The Sultan cannot be left waiting."

Aro laughed.

"Jane, you may let dear little Alice go now. She has been obedient."

Bella was horrified to see the look of agony on Alice's face. Despite herself, Bella walked over to Alice and placed a calming hand on her. The agony was immediately replaced by smile.

"You are dismissed," Aro's voice rang out behind them as Bella was dragging Alice away as fast as she could. The female vampyre was staggering under the force of the pain. It would be another eternity before Alice looked like her previous self. Once they were back in the Underground, Alice finally spoke.

"You must forgive me, Bella."

Bella glared at Alice. She herself was still stupefied by the terror that had overtaken her previously. Something had just gone terribly wrong.

"Explain yourself, you little shit. Now." Bella had a feeling that Alice was a victim as much as she was.

"I had to do this. Bella. It is what sets everything on the right path."

Bella laughed, harshly.

"Right path? Are you serious?"

Alice placed her hands over her face, a strange act on such a powerful creature.

"Yes. Aro was planning something more...confrontational."

The way Alice said confrontational made Bella's blood curl in fear. Bella had never been quick to forgive. Lately, she had been doing just that. Terrible images of the confrontation that Alice spoke of passed through Bella's mind.

"We must get back now, my time with you is nearing an end."

"Just carry me this time," Bella mumbled. Alice grinned and picked her up.

When they arrived back at the room, Jasper was standing at the door with his arms crossed. Bella could not help but feel like a teenager caught sneaking back into the house at two in the morning. She wondered if that was even a possible situation in the current climate as it was.

Alice placed Bella down. Bella smiled at Jasper. Jasper was familiar. Jasper was the opposite of what had just happened. Bella turned to Alice.

"Alice, thank you for showing me the library. I hope we can do this again."

Alice smiled gratefully.

"Sure, Bella. Anytime."

Jasper glanced between the two of them.

"Bye, Alice." Bella gave Alice a little push and she scurried away. Jasper simply stood motionless and gazed at Bella.

Bella knew that Jasper was powerful. Yet, she was not scared of him.

"Did Alice tell you of our arrangement?" Jasper finally spoke. His voice was monotone in his anger.

Bella shook her head.

"She was supposed to bring you back here twenty minutes ago."

"As if time has any meaning down here."

"Wrong. Those were twenty minutes that I could have spent with you that are now forever taken away."

Bella scoffed.

"But now there are another twenty minutes in front of us."

Bella pushed past him and into the room. She flopped down on the bed and let the relief wash over her. Jasper walked over to the bed.

"Do you think that I cannot feel the absolute terror that is flowing from you, darling?"

Bella rolled over on her back. Right. Empath.

"I have a lot to be scared of," Bella said.

"You are protecting her."

Bella nodded.

"What did she do?"

"Just showed me some really old books." Bella bit her lip. "And anyways, what makes you think that she did something? I could just be scared of you."

"You are talking yourself into a circle, sweetness. I would know if you were scared of me. I prefer to take my women willing."

Damn.

For a moment Bella indulged the idea that he had slept with other women besides her. The feeling of jealousy that crept in was involuntary and irrational.

He was her only one.

Jasper chuckled and laid down next to her.

"You keep biting your lip like that and I will have to stop you."

Bella stopped.

"Tell me. Where did she take you?"

"A library."

Jasper's hand rested gently on Bella's stomach. Bella glared at him and pushed the hand off. He was not allowed to mention other women and then try some moves on her.

"I will find out, Bella," Jasper was no longer playing around. Bella sighed. She hoped Alice was far enough away.

"I met the in-laws."

Jasper's eyebrows shot up.

"The in-laws?"

"Aro, Caius and Marcus, you dummy."

"How. Dare. She," Jasper growled.

Before Jasper could react, Bella hopped onto him to prevent him from moving.

"Jasper," she whispered, placing a kiss on his lips. "Be calm. Nothing happened. We just said hello."

Jasper stared at her incredulously.

"You just said hello," he repeated.

"Yep."

"You enigmatic human," he said to himself. "Alice must be dealt with."

"At another time," Bella said, placing another kiss on his neck.

Bella did not know why Alice was to be protected. Yet, something told her that Alice was correct.

Things must be set on the right path.

a/n: I do not own Twilight.