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Complexity
By : TwilightScribe
Category: Twilight Series > Slash
Views: 3825 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.
Chapter List
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Title: Complexity

Fandom: Twilight series

Pairing: eventual Marcus/Seth; mentions of Jasper/Jacob

Part: II. Point of No Return

Prompt: 010. memory ; o16. fear

Words: 5087 words

Summary: Volterra was his prison, an entire city, but it didn't make up for the fact that he was alone and tortured. There had to be something to make this death sentence worthwhile.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight series, and I don't claim to own it either. It belongs to Stephanie Meyer, and I only write these things to satisfy the muses and make nothing from it.

II. Point of No Return
The next day was as grey and overcast as the before had been. Seth slept late into the afternoon before he finally crawled out of bed to face his last few hours in La Push. He wanted to get out of his house before his mom woke up and started worrying and fussing over him, since he knew that she wouldn't accept this; she'd make a huge scene which would only make things that much harder for him.
Once he'd woken up, Seth trotted out of his room and into the bathroom across the hall that he shared with his sister – who he hadn't seen since the night before – and started getting ready for the day. He figured that making the best first impression he could on the vampires who'd be taking him might be in his best interest.
Seth knew that none of them were 'vegetarians' like the Cullens, and he had no idea, really, of what to expect when he went to meet them at midnight. They were gifted, he knew that much, but as for what they were like, he had no idea. The fact that he was walking into a situation involving his mortal enemies (and he didn't count the Cullens among them) without any preparation was scaring the shit out of him. Seth hated the fact that he was still human, which meant that they'd be able to take him out with ease, even if he phased; that wasn't fair, they clearly had the advantage over him. He didn't like that they could easily hurt him and he wouldn't be able to get an attack in at all.
The hot water of the shower was both relaxing and not-conductive to his thoughts at that moment. It only helped the stewing of dark thoughts and horrible situations that he was picturing. After all, he had no idea how the Volturi would treat him.
What if they lock me in a dungeon? What if they... Thoughts like that kept eating at him as he cleaned himself.
All of the 'what if's were bouncing around inside of Seth's head without stop, and he had no idea how to stop them. The worst case scenario was that they'd lock him in some kind of laboratory and run all sorts of painful and drawn-out tests on him before they tortured him to death for fun. Or maybe they'd just torture him into insanity before locking him away until he finally died.
The thought made him shudder, and he turned the water off and climbed out of the shower.
Seth dried himself off quickly and didn't bother with the hair brush as he pulled on his sweats as he went about brushing his teeth; Leah had told him often that he had really bad morning breath. Of course, she could've been exaggerating in the way that older sisters went about teasing their younger siblings.
Finishing up in the bathroom, Seth chucked his tooth brush and his toothpaste into a zip-lock bag and then took that back to his room with him and shoved it into his backpack along with everything else that he planned to bring with him. Then again, he didn't know if he'd actually get to use them, but he figured that he'd err on the side of this not being as bad as he thought it was going to be.
Figuring that he had a long journey ahead of him, Seth kept that in mind while also thinking about what would be respectable. He grabbed a pair of his favourite dark wash jeans out of his closet, along with a plain tee and one of his warmer hoodies just in case.
With a last look around his room, Seth made his bed before grabbing his backpack and leaving the room, going down the stairs and into the kitchen. He'd make himself something to eat before going off to spend his last few hours on his own in a few of his favourite haunts.
Or, at least, that had been the plan until the phone rang.
Lifting the phone from its cradle, Seth answered it, “Hello, Clearwater residence.”
“Seth? Is that you?” It was Alice's voice, Seth recognized it in a heartbeat. The tiny vampire was one of his closest friends.
“Yeah, it's me. What's up Alice?” He sincerely hoped that she hadn't heard yet about how he was leaving, because he really did enjoy the time that he got to spend with her and her family.
What with Jacob's imprinting and all, he'd been spending a lot of time with Cullens. Sam might have asked that he spend that time with them, but Seth would've done it on his own; he didn't need to be ordered to do it. He was pretty sure that he and Jacob were the only ones out of the entire pack who could stand, and actually enjoyed, being around the Cullens for any length of time. Then again, Jacob pretty much lived at the Cullens' place; Seth just went around there to hang out with Edward and Alice, and Bella on occasion.
“I... I'm so sorry,” her voice was soft, broken, and apologetic.
Seth hated to hear the normally bubbly and energetic vampire sound so heartbroken. And in that moment, he realized just what she was apologizing for.
“If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't be in this situation; you can't imagine how horribly guilty all of us feel for getting you into this situation.” He heard her give a dry sob over the line, knowing that she'd be weeping right that moment if she was capable of it. “I should've seen that they were coming... I should have warned all of you not to be there; this is my fault.”
“Hang on Alice! It's not your fault, things slip through sometimes, you said that yourself!” Seth didn't want Alice to blame herself for the turn of fate that he was experiencing. He needed her to continue being that ray of light in everyone's lives that she was. “Sam wanted us there anyway, and you know that he doesn't listen to you at all, so even if you'd told him that they were coming, he wouldn't have listened to you.”
Both of them knew that that was true. Sam put absolutely no stock in any of Alice's visions, no matter how set in stone they were; like what the weather the next day would be like. And even if they did play out to be true, he said that relying on something so unpredictable and easily changed was stupid. Seth thought it was because he was a bit bitter about how he didn't like how his future had been set and immutable since the moment he first phased.
“... It's just that I – I keep thinking that this could have turned out so much differently then how it has.” She paused, and there was the sound of slight shifting in the background. “I even went to Aro after you left... I offered to go in your place; I knew how much he wanted my gift in his collection.”
“What?! No, Alice you can't!”
It had been no surprise to Seth that the Volturi would be interested in Alice; her ability to see the future held the possibility of being extremely useful in the right person's hands, and also incredibly deadly. But Alice detested the taking of human life – she'd been able to hold in her blood lust since she'd been 'born' – and so she'd never misused her gift or used it for cruel or evil intentions. And she fit in well with the Cullens; bringing a certain life to them that they lacked without her there. There was just no way that Seth would ever let her leave, not when doing so would destroy her soul.
She continued on, undaunted, “Aro was delighted to see me offering myself up like that, he would've taken both of us. But when I told him that I wouldn't go if he insisted on taking you, he told me that it was either both of us or just you. He wouldn't accept a compromise...”
“Alice, you can't go with him. I won't let you.”
“But–”
“No way! You have to stay here; this is where you belong and where you're needed. I'll be fine on my own, alright?”
“Will you stop by at least? I want to be able to say goodbye to you in person, all of us would.”
Seth didn't even have to think twice; the Cullens were a second family to him, “Yeah, I'll be right over.”
“Okay.” The line clicked dead.
For a few moments, Seth stood there with the phone in his hand and held to his ear, the dial tone echoing in the silence. He hadn't taken into account the Cullen family wanting to say goodbye to him when he'd planned out his day, but when he gave that a little more thought, he realized that he'd been a complete idiot to think otherwise.
Of course they'd want to say goodbye, he reprimanded himself, if they're going to go about blaming themselves for this then it would be so painful for them to let me leave without getting the chance to apologize. But it's not their fault, I have to make sure that they know that.
Hitting the end call button, Seth set the phone back in its cradle and made his way towards the kitchen door. He'd skip making himself something to eat since Esme would want to make him dinner that evening as her last gift to him and also as her way of apologizing to him. Seth knew that this would break Esme's heart almost as much – if not completely – as it would hurt his own mother, and that only made him feel worse about the entire situation. Esme was too loving a person to have to go through something like this, she was tough, but not as tough as his mother or his sister were.
How would all of them deal with him being gone? Seth knew that Jacob was beating himself up over the entire situation, even though Seth couldn't see how it was his fault at all. But he and Jacob had grown close over the years since that fateful battle against the newborns, and Seth had been one of the first people to support Jacob's unusual imprinting one hundred percent right from the start.
Seth continued his musings as he left his childhood home, making sure to lock the kitchen door behind him before he set off into the woods in the direction of the Cullen house. If he had any time after visiting them, then he'd head out to the cliffs which had been his hide-out since he was old enough to explore the woods on his own.
Rosalie would take the news badly, but she was made of the same stuff as Leah was. Women like them were able to pick up the pieces no matter how difficult or painful it was, and move on as best they could. They were the kind of people that Seth admired. He made note to ask Rosalie to help Leah out with all the problems that his sister would face; he knew that he was really all that was keeping Leah tied to her life as a wolf and to La Push itself. He'd appreciate it beyond words if his sister could at least have someone to talk to who understood her on a level that no one else could.
He could see them, Leah and Rosalie, becoming really close, good friends; it was easy to picture.
Emmett would take the news like his wife would, badly, only he'd try to lighten the mood with jokes and fond reminiscing of all the good times. He'd recognize the futility of the situation, in that he couldn't change anything about it, and he'd try to make the best of what little time that Seth had left. Oddly enough, Seth was looking forward to the jokes which he was sure Emmett would be either making at his own expense, or making to try and cheer everyone up. There'd probably be a lot of the bringing up of embarrassing moments too.
The thought of Emmett breaking down like Esme or Alice would inevitably do, brought a smile to Seth's face, and he was glad that the brawny vampire would be there for them.
When it came to Bella and Edward, Seth knew that they'd both probably have the same reactions. Bella would blame herself because it was her fault that the Volturi had shown up to make sure that she'd been turned; especially when she'd wanted to drop by Volterra on her own to prove to them once and for all that they had nothing to worry about. Aro couldn't see her thoughts, and the gifts which worked inside the mind had no effect on her; the secret of the shifters and their existence would've been kept from them.
Edward, on the other hand, would just add the incident onto the long list of ones which he blamed himself for. In fact, he would see himself as the instigator of the entire string of occurrences which had brought the Volturi straight to their doorstep. But it couldn't have been helped; Seth knew that Edward would never want to live in a world where Bella didn't exist, just like how Sam or Jacob wouldn't want to live in one without the one that they'd imprinted on.
Lastly, there was Carlisle. Seth was counting on him to be reasonable one and also the one who'd be able to hold the Cullen family together throughout the trying times ahead. Carlisle would understand his decision to go, even though someone else could've gone for him, and he'd respect the choice that he'd made; even if he blamed himself for letting Aro know about their existence.
It's no one's fault that my life sucks. I've just got to learn to deal with it, just like I always have.
He picked up his pace to a light jog once he'd left behind the outskirts of La Push, inhaling the forest air deeply as he ran towards the boundary line. The last thing that he wanted right then was to run into any of the others who would probably try and make him turn back to spend the remaining few hours with the day with them, or worse, try to convince him to let one of them go in his place. He knew that Embry would've traded his life gladly for his; Seth knew how much he hated the place.
Luckily for Seth, it didn't seem like anyone was on patrol at that moment, and so he was easily able to slip across the boundary line and continue on to his destination.
From there, it was only a five minute run to the Cullen house. When he arrived, he saw Alice sitting on the front steps, looking like the perfect picture of agonizing depression and it broke Seth's heart even more.
She spotted him the moment that he emerged from the forest – she'd probably heard him coming – and was in front of him in a second, her arms thrown around his neck in a near choke-hold of a hug. Seth wrapped his arms around her back and gave her a comforting squeeze.
“Alice... please let go... you're gonna strangle me...!”
“Sorry...” she whispered, relaxing her grip and instead keeping her arms loosely around his neck. Her toes didn't touch the ground, emphasizing even more just how tiny and seemingly fragile and dainty she appeared to be. “I... I'm going to miss you so much...”
Her shoulders were shaking and her voice was just as broken as it had been over the phone; it was just so much more heartbreaking to hear it in person and know that one was the cause of it. Seth felt even more guilty then he had earlier when he'd first answered her call; hurting people wasn't something he did, no matter what.
“I know... I'm gonna miss you too.”
When she finally let him go, she dropped back down onto her feet but never took her eyes away from his. The light gold looked into the dark hazel with such a piercing clarity and understanding, that Seth doubted anyone could ever understand him as much as this tiny vampire in front of him could. He just couldn't see happiness and a special someone in his future; not with the cards that he'd been dealt.
Alice reached out, taking Seth's hand in her tiny one and giving it a squeeze as she turned away and began leading him towards the house. She'd left the front door open.
“Jake still hasn't come back after last night...” she murmured. “Jasper was so worried... and then when Sam called to see if he'd made it back here, he was beyond that; I've never seen him so terrified before.”
“But Jasper's with him now.” Seth was certain that if the blond vampire was with his pack brother, that the older shifter would be fine; Jasper would never let anything hurt Jacob.
She nodded, “Yes, he called the moment that he found him. I don't know if they're going to be back tonight in time or not, but Jasper wants you to know that he's sorry about all of this, and that he hopes that it will all turn out okay in the end.”
He and I both.
“How's Jake taking things?” Jake was his best friend and his childhood hero; Seth had always looked up to him, and they'd grown so close over the years that leaving him felt like leaving his own brother.
With a heavy sigh, Alice looked pointedly away to the forest, “From what Jasper told me? I don't think that he's taking this well, but then again, none of us are. It's just... this is all so sudden. I never thought that I'd have to go through losing any of my family now of all times, not when I'd just become comfortable...”
“I'll still be alive, you know, it's not like I'm dying.”
Seth's attempt at lightening the mood had failed miserably, because it only made Alice let out another strangled sob-like noise.
“It's the Volturi we're talking about here Seth; once you've gone with them, it'll be just as though you had died. You won't be able to come back, ever.” Alice's hand squeezed his a little too tightly, making him wince from the pressure.
“I figured that's how it would be...” Seth took the two steps onto the Cullens' front porch in one, landing neatly on the wooden structure before trailing behind Alice into the huge building.
All of the Cullens were assembled in the living room – minus Jasper and Jacob – and all of them had the same, grim look on their faces. It was as if someone had died and all of them were at the funeral; which it sort of was, considering where Seth would be going. Like Alice had said, he might as well have been dead, because that was what he was going to be to his friends and family who he'd be leaving behind.
Beside him, Alice was still trembling with the force of her suppressed , tearless sobs. Seth dislodged his hand from within her ice-cold grasp and slipped his arm about her shoulders instead in a silent offer of comfort. He suddenly felt as though he should be crying, but couldn't find it in himself to show that weakness, if anything, Alice's breakdown only increased his determination to be strong.
I can do this, was what he kept telling himself, over and over, inside his head. Everyone was counting on him to leave to keep them safe. After all, what was one life compared to the hundreds that would be lost if the Volturi came to 'clean up' this little oversight?
“I'm so, so sorry Seth...” Bella murmured, leaning against Edward for support. She couldn't bring herself to meet Seth's eyes, to even look at him. She kept her eyes focused on her feet, her arm tight around Edward's waist. Much like Alice, her voice was full of a pain and spoke of guilt; just like Alice – like all of them – she was blaming herself for his fate.
He tried to smile, but it wound up falling flat, “Don't worry about it Bella; it's not your fault.”
She shook her head wildly, trembling, “No it is. Don't you understand? They came here forme; if I'd been brave enough, if I'd insisted enough... then this wouldn't have happened. I would have gone to Volterra, showed them that I'd been turned, and then they wouldn't have come here. See? If I'd been stronger, then you wouldn't have to leave.”
This time it was Carlisle who interrupted, “That's not entirely true, Bella. Even if you had gone and showed them that we had indeed fulfilled our end of their bargain, they still would have come here looking for us eventually. Aro is a tireless collector; he would never stop coveting the gift you have, or the ones that Alice and Edward possess.”
For the first time, Rosalie spoke up, “They would've come here anyway, it was just a matter of time until they did. We just gave them an excuse to come here sooner.”
“Then we should have moved on quicker,” Esme replied, softly, heartbroken.
It was all getting to be too much for Seth; he was getting tired of seeing his second family beating themselves up over something which they couldn't have stopped or changed. He didn't want them blaming themselves for this for the rest of their incredibly long lives; what he wanted was for them to be happy and continue on with their lives as best they could. Not spend all of that time moping over things that couldn't have been changed.
“Look, it happened,” Seth replied, a little more snappishly then he'd intended. “There's no use thinking about what any of us could have done when it's already happened.”
Suddenly Emmett was behind him, clapping a thick hand onto his shoulder that nearly sent him through the floor, “That's the spirit; you've gotta be strong Seth, right? We'll get you back one day.”
It was nice to know, at least, that Emmett was going to be the optimist. But then again, that was who Emmett was. Sure he was goofy and maybe not the smartest vampire around, but he had a good heart and that was really all that mattered. It was enough to make Seth smile, just a little.
“Yeah, alright.”
None of the others seemed to be as hopeful as Emmett was, instead, all of them seemed to be brought further down by his words.
Alice drifted away from Seth's side and to Esme's, who's arms she practically fell into. She started crying tearless sobs, her tiny body shaking from the force of them. Whatever last reserve of strength she'd been holding onto earlier was gone, and now she was just another woman who was losing someone dear and she was powerless to stop it.
Maybe this was what it was like to lose a loved one to a disease like cancer, Seth thought. He'd never experienced the feeling himself; he'd lost his own dad suddenly. Harry might have had cholesterol problems, but other then that he'd been perfectly healthy, and no one on the reserve had thought that he'd just keel over from a heart attack one day. Then again, you usually don't have your daughter explode in a ball of fur into a wolf in the middle of the living room every day. Or have your fifteen year old son sneak in through his bedroom window because of a similar incident.
It had been the phasing which had done their father in, and Seth knew that Leah was still hurting from that. She still thought that it was her fault that Harry was gone and their mother was alone.
But some good seemed to have come from that, and Seth was always desperately searching to see the bright side in everything because it gave him hope that the next day would be better. For their mom, Charlie had come into the picture – although, he'd always been in it somehow – and after a while, Sue had stopped being so lonely. A warmth had come back into her eyes, and she looked so much happier whenever the chief of Forks' police came by for a visit or dinner.
For Charlie, Seth had noticed that he'd stopped having that 'kicked puppy' look that he'd had so often whenever he'd seen him. Apparently Charlie had never quite been able to get over his ex-wife, and it had taken him nearly twenty years to finally be able to move on and find someone new. He couldn't think of two people who came together naturally.
“Seth...”
Rosalie's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and Seth's head snapped up to meet the blond vampire's eyes.
As always, her face was drawn into a sharp expression, this time of anger, but Seth knew that it wasn't directed at him, and it never had been. He'd never been scared of Rosalie, even when she had her moments where she was like a demon in the flesh; and that had somehow endeared him to her. She'd taken to mothering him whenever she could, but she still treated him like a friend.
“Yeah Rose?” Seth was the only one outside of the Cullen family who could get away with calling Rosalie that; not even Bella was allowed to use that nickname for her.
Her hands balled up into fists at her sides, “Be careful.”
Then she'd hugged him and pressed a kiss to his cheek so fast that Seth had no chance to respond. Within moments, the front door had nearly been ripped off its hinges and she was gone. Seth stared wordlessly after her; too shocked to say or do anything.
“Sorry about that,” Emmett rubbed the back of his head, grimacing a bit. “I'd better go make sure she's okay. You take care, you hear me kid?” He ruffled Seth's hair playfully.
“I will, don't worry about me; I can take care of myself.”
Emmett nodded once, and then he too was gone out the front door in search of his wife.
That left Seth wondering if all of them were going to break off into separate pairs to mourn on their own. He was sort of hoping that Esme would make him dinner before he had to go meet the Volturi. That, he felt, would give her some form of closure.
Edward and Bella, though, were next.
“I'm so sorry...” Bella murmured brokenly again as she wrapped her arms around Seth. She carefully embraced him before releasing him. He could feel her shaking as she did so. “For your sake, I hope that whatever happens with the Volturi won't be bad, and I hope that you'll somehow be happy.”
“Yeah, me too.” And that was it. Something clicked into place inside of Seth, and it made him feel just a little less guilty about leaving everyone behind. For some reason, some small part of him was saying that it was alright; that he was supposed to leave for whatever reason. Going with the Volturi... he was meant to do that. It was enough to give him some small hope.
“I hope that you're right,” Edward whispered. “Good luck Seth. I'm sure that we'll see each other again. And I'll always hope that this really will work out for the best.” There was a meaning to the last look that Edward gave him that Seth couldn't put a name too, but he guessed that it was just the vampire's way of saying that he'd miss him.
“Well, good luck with the rest of your life; both of you.” This time Seth managed a tiny smile.
And then, both Edward and Bella were gone; also disappearing out into the downcast evening to do whatever it was that vampire's did in such situations. Seth could only hope that they'd be alright.
Carlisle, Esme, and Alice had drifted over to the huge cream couch which dominated the living room. Seth joined them after a few more seconds, settling down beside Esme who immediately put her arm around his shoulders and pulled him close, pressing her ice cold lips to his temple.
“You have to promise me that you'll be safe,” she was murmuring. “Follow their orders and their rules; do whatever you have to in order to stay alive. I'd never forgive myself if you died because of us.”
Feeling just a little more confident about the situation, Seth nodded, “I will, don't worry; I'll be fine.”
Esme frowned, but said nothing more on the subject, and the four of them lapsed into a strange silence. It wasn't quite uncomfortable, but it wasn't comfortable either; Seth decided to label it as 'awkward' since he couldn't find any other words to describe it. So instead, the four of them just sat there in each others company, enjoying what little time they had left together.
Absently, Esme's hand slowly carded through Alice's hair as the tiny vampire continued to cry into her lap. The heartbreaking sounds were slowly cutting away at Seth's determination, but he refused to give him; he wouldn't condemn anyone else to the same fate as him. He'd carry this burden as best he could, just like how his forefathers had done over the generations since they'd become shifters.
Eventually the silence became too much, and Seth's hunger began to emerge. He smiled weakly at Esme, “Do you think I could impose on you for dinner one more time?”
She gave him her best motherly smile, but now there was something sad in it which chipped away at the usual warmth that was there, “Of course Seth; I'd love to make you dinner before you go. I'll make whatever you like.”
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Complexity	By : TwilightScribe Category: Twilight Series > Slash Views: 3825 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.

Complexity