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Complexity
By : TwilightScribe
Category: Twilight Series > Slash
Views: 3827 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.
Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Title: Complexity

Fandom: Twilight series

Pairing: eventual Marcus/Seth

Part: V. First Encounters

Prompt: 024. lonely

Words: 7314 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.

V. First Encounters
Seth felt like he'd been run over by a Mac truck and then strung up to a telephone. In short, he felt like absolute shit by the time Demetri was done with him and that was only the start of the 'fun' because then Jane had insisted on making him very well aware of just what his punishment would be if he disobeyed any of the rules laid down for him to follow. Needless to say, she'd made sure that it had only been a mild dose of what she was capable of.
Needless to say he was no longer in the dark as to what Jane's power was. And it fit her personality to a T; so now Seth could understand how she could be as sadistic as she was, because she had the power to inflict as much pain – or as little – as she wanted. He had very good reason to be scared of her, and scared of her he was.
Once all of the torture and introductions were done, was when Seth was allowed to go to his assigned room in the palace on the second floor. Athenodora had volunteered to show him to his room, but she'd quickly been ordered not to by both her husband as well as Aro, who promised to make sure that Seth was well settled in and that he wouldn't perform any more experiments on the young wolf. Seth found that Athenodora was probably the closest to Esme that the Volturi had, and he was glad that she was there because she could potentially make for a very good friend who had the power to look out for him.
Not that he'd be taking advantage of her, of course, but it was nice to know that he hadsomeone on his side.
The room that Aro showed him too was spacious and decorated luxuriously, if not a bit sparingly. It was all made of the same white marble as the rest of the palace was – or at least from what Seth had seen of it – with a rich blue Persian carpet thrown over the floor beside the bed. Seth was surprised that there was a bed at all, mostly because he didn't think that they'd want him to be that comfortable but also because a bed could be hard to find, not to mention put together and then arrange an entire room around it. But then Seth remembered that these were vampires he was thinking about, and he'd seen their insane speed and skill at getting things done on the fly firsthand, so he knew that it was completely possible for this to have gotten done in a matter of hours.
As for the rest of the room, the walls were bare except for the dark blue curtains that were trimmed in elegant silver designs that hung over the huge windows set into the walls. The windows gave a beautiful view of the courtyard below and there was even a set of French doors which led out onto a modestly sized balcony.
The bed was a huge, four-posted with a canopy made up of the same blue fabric with silver designs as the curtains with matching silver, white, and blue pillows and covers. Other then the bed, there was a small table beside the door with a vase of white lilies on it that looked like they'd seen better days, a bureau with a huge ornate mirror hung above it, and a desk with a chair. Everything in the room had an aged feel to it as though it had been there for decades and, in fact, was over a hundred years old at least. Even the vases and little decorative knick-knacks had that same antique feel about them. It was really rather impressive, but it had the feel of a hotel room.
Seth supposed it was going to be up to him to make the room feel like his. It made him wish that he could have brought more then the meager bag which Alice had packed for him. The most that he'd been able to bring were a couple of photographs in frames or scrapbooks and photo albums that Alice had put together to him.
"Well, I hope that you enjoy your stay here and that this room is to your liking." Aro still had that sickly sweet smile on his face that had been plastered to his face since Seth had been subjected to torture by his underlings. The ancient vampire got more kicks out of that then Jane had probably gotten, and that was saying something.
Turning around, Seth gave a short nod.
He heard the vampire chuckle and then the door shut behind him with a sort of finality to it that made Seth wince.
It was the first time that he'd been left to himself for nearly twenty-four hours, and Seth felt oddly grateful for it. He just needed some sleep before he felt like he was alive enough to do anything, and he didn't want to venture out into the palace while Jane was around. The tiny vampire had already expressed how happy she was to have a new pin cushion around for her to use her powers on. It was like he was a squishy practice dummy that made entertaining noises when you kicked it hard enough.
Tomorrow wasn't looking good.

.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.
Seth was woken up late the next morning by the sun shining in through the windows whose curtains he'd forgotten to close the night before. Rolling over onto his back, Seth wondered whether or not he should bother getting up and getting dressed since he had absolutely no intention of leaving his room. The last thing that he wanted was to be tortured all over again.
He was still sore from his experiences with Jane and Demetri the day before. Being subjected to more of that wasn't very high on his to do list for the day.
Staring at the ceiling, Seth sighed and thought over everything that had happened to him and all of the vampires who he'd been introduced to the day before. In all honesty, he wasn't sure what to think of most of them. Athenodora and Alec seemed okay, the former was nice enough to him and seemed to have those same mothering instincts as Esme, and as for the latter... after he'd told Seth about the bushes which grew along the front porch of the palace, he'd been very quiet and had said nothing. Overall, Alec seemed incredibly apathetic towards him. That Seth could live with since it meant that the vampire would be less likely to hurt him in any way. Plus, Alec's gift was still a mystery to him.
Sulpicia was in the same league as her husband. She made no effort to disguise how disgusted she was by Seth's smell – which would start to change in the next few days – and just didn't seem to like him at all. It made Seth wonder if she viewed humans as being inferior to her kind and she grouped him in with those same humans because he still had a heart which beat and pumped blood through his veins. Or maybe she just didn't like anyone.
Lastly, there was Caius and Demetri. Caius was the cold-hearted bastard who loved torture and revelled in cruelty. He might have been the more attractive out of himself and Aro, but he was the more outwardly evil. Whereas Aro hid behind a mask of pleasantry and goodness, Caius openly embraced his dark and cruel nature; he seemed to enjoy being an evil vampire who was more true to the stereotype. And as for Demetri... he enjoyed pain and he enjoyed playing with his prey. It hadn't taken Seth long to figure out that he was a tracker and that since Aro obviously didn't accept second-rate, he was probably the best tracker that there was.
So even without the monitoring device strapped to his ankle, there would be no point in running; Demetri would be able to find him no matter where he went. His situation was pretty much hopeless.
All of the other vampires who he'd encountered in the hallways when he'd been led to his room hadn't given him much faith either. Each and every one of them had glared at him and wrinkled up their noses in disgust. None of them had the vibe of 'I'd-be-willing-to-give-you-a-chance', instead they'd given off the aura of 'You-smell-and-I-would-love-to-kill-you-first-chance-I-get.'
There was a soft knock at the door which startled Seth out of his thoughts. He looked over to the door, “Come in.”
The woman who stepped into the room was in the same league as Rosalie in terms of looks. She was one of those people who you looked at or saw once and you never forgot them. She was tall, probably just a little shorter then he was, and had a willowy frame, but her curves were soft and her facial features were angulara and sharp with rather prominent cheekbones that helped to give her a rather pretty face. Something about her seemed a little exotic despite how simple her clothes were.
Her hair was a dark mahogany shade with a slight curl that was long fell nearly to her waist. The way it fell gracefully around her face accented her natural – although vampirically enhanced – beauty, but her most attention grabbing feature were her bright violet eyes. Her eyes were unusual because he was sure that she was a vampire – her pale skin attested to that – and also because she carried with her the faint scent of human blood. The scent was naseating and Seth felt a bit disgusted by it even though it was obvious that she'd made an effort to both cover the scent up and clean herself so that it wasn't as strong.
However, her face held a soft expression with a very welcoming and warm smile. It made him feel a bit shocked because the only who had looked at him like that thus far was Athenodora, and even she hadn't been so open with her smiles. But another thing was that she didn't seem to have any problem at all with his smell. Her nose was wrinkled at all, and there wasn't a single hint in her face that his scent was disgusting to her. That made him curious about why she was there.
Well Aro had said that he would have someone deliver his meals to him in his room. That was why she was there, Seth realized. He'd missed the tray of food which she carried in her hands while he'd been distracted by her appearance.
“Hello,” she greeted him. Her voice was soft and had a lilting cadence to it which made it very appealing but also had a welcoming sort of feel to it. That was a bit of a first. “You must be the shifter that I've been hearing so much about.”
“Uh… yeah…” Seth was, understandably, a little confused. None of the vampires who he'd met had made any real attempts at converstaion, most of them had shied away from him or commented rudely on his scent. It was a refreshing but also surprising, change.
The female vampire continued to smile at him, her face warm and open, as she continued to speak, “I would have come to introduce myself sooner, but I was otherwise occupied when you arrived and then I had some... sensitive Volturi issues which needed to be attended to.” I needed to feed. She paused for a moment, "I'm sorry about the smell. It doesn't bother you too much I hope."
When she said the last part, her face fell a little and seemed almost sad. She snapped out of it quickly enough, though. Her quick mood swings reminded Seth a little bit of Alice.
“Sorry about that. Anyway, you've got a name right? I can’t go about calling you shifter, because that just seems rude to me and it also isn't really appropriate since you're going to be with us for a while.” She spoke at almost a mile a minute, and if Seth had been human, he would have probably had had trouble keeping up with her.
“Seth… Seth Clearwater.”
“Seth, then, it is a pleasure to meet you.” She gave a little curtsy, before placing his breakfast tray on the nearby table at the door. Then she came further into the room, stopping just short of him, before she gracefully sat down on the floor across from him. “My name is Heidi. Welcome to Volterra!”
He stared at her like she’d just grown a second head. None of the vampires had treated him like this! Maybe she has some motive? That was definitely a possibility, but Seth didn’t think that she was putting on an act; she definitely seemed genuine, and he was desperately in need of a friend to talk to or to just keep him company at that moment.
“I haven’t actually seen the city,” Seth responded softly. “I only saw it when we arrived here; I haven't had the time to actually explore it, and besides, I need permission to even leave the palace to go into Volterra. I don't think that asking right now would be a good idea...”
“Well, there’s plenty to see inside the palace. If you know where to look for it, that is,” Heidi continued on, though her smile had diminished just a little. “But having to ask for permission? That seems a bit harsh to me.”
He shrugged, “Yeah well, that’s what I’ve gotta live with from now on.”
“I’m…” She paused, and her face seemed to reflect an inner dilemma that she was having. “I’m very sorry about this; all of this. It wasn’t fair of Aro to just take you away from your family and friends like that… it was wrong, but I guess he was presented with something too great or interesting for him to just turn away from.”
That made Seth snort, “That’s the understatement of the century.”
“He’s always been a heartless bastard,” Heidi commented in an offhand tone. “That is something that no one can deny – not even him – but he likes to think that he’s doing what’s ‘best’ for the rest of our kind. I still don’t know what died and made him king.”
“Caius isn’t much better.” In fact, I don’t know who the worse of the two is.
“Psh, something crawled up Caius’ ass and died there if you ask me. But then, if you ask Felix, he’ll tell you that the guy’s just got a stick the size of a – oh nevermind, I think that that might be just a tad inappropriate to talk about.” She smiled broadly at him and winked.
A warm feeling surged up in Seth’s chest, and he couldn’t hold back the small grin which forced itself onto his face.
That only made Heidi smile more, “Oh great! A smile! Finally! You looked so mopey and down before that I just couldn’t stand it any longer; so I took it upon myself to cheer you up.” Then she frowned a bit, “Felix thought I was crazy for coming here, but really, I think that you’re a fun guy Seth.”
He looked at her, a little more serious now, “Why did you come here?”
“I figured that you would need a friend to help you get used to Volterra.” Heidi shrugged, leaning forward to whisper conspiratorially, “Besides, I figured that it would annoy Caius and Aro just a little.”
“Revenge?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Ouch that’s a little harsh! But no, mostly it’s because I thought that you could really use a friend right about now.”
Seth smiled a little more, “Yeah, I think I really could…”
“Good! I’ll give you the grand tour later, okay?”
Things were starting to look up just a bit right then, and Seth was suddenly finding himself very glad that he got along well with vampires when they were willing to give him the chance.

.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.

Heidi spent the rest of the day with him, just talking about everything, only disappearing periodically to return the empty trays to the kitchen and then fetch him lunch and dinner respectively. Seth had been surprised to discover that there was actually a fully furnished kitchen in the palace.
"They had to have it built, otherwise it would have raised a lot of awkward questions," Heidi explained. "It hasn't been used, really, until now. We had to hire chefs from a few different countries in order to get it working, but I think that it's been worth it. The only problem is that know our secret now, and if anything happens and they become a weakness or a liability, then they're dead. No one would think twice about killing a few humans who risked revealing out existence to the world."
That made Seth swallow heavily, "That's..."
"Horrible, I know, but most of us have spent so long living the way we do and with the values that the Volturi hold dear that we have very skewed view on the value of human life." She gave a tiny smile, "And after living for several years the way that we do, you sort of become... numb towards the feelings that regular people hold over killing. You just stop feeling anything when you take another life. It becomes all about survival, although I don't revel in causing unnecessary pain."
Unlike some of my fellow coven members.
That was understandable. Seth's experience with vampires who didn't live like the Cullens was very limited, so he didn't really understand the how or why they lived the way they did. His only real time spent in the company of vampires who killed to survive were with the newborns who had attacked Forks under Victoria's command in a plot to get to Bella, and they weren't exactly great examples of what vampires were by any definition of the word.
"Oh."
"This is probably not what you want to be talking about," Heidi guessed, relaxing her sitting position. She'd drawn her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "I'm sorry about that... I guess I just felt the need to explain myself just a little bit... I want you to understand, but I don't want you to be afraid."
Somehow, Seth managed a weak smile, "Thank you. I appreciate that."
His head was resting on his arms, he'd mirrored Heidi's sitting position, only he was leaning back against his bed as they talked. He felt oddly at peace and comfortable in her company. It might have had something to do with how Heidi reminded him just a little of both his sister and Rosalie; all of them were strong women, but they'd been dealt different circumstances and had learned to deal with their lots in life differently.
"It's nothing." Heidi glanced out the window and at the dark, star-spattered sky which greeted her. "Oh wow, I hadn't realized how late it was... I should probably leave you so that you can get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."
Seth stared at her blankly. He didn't have anything planned for the next day.
"I was going to give you the grand tour tomorrow," Heidi answered his silent question with a smile. "There's a lot in the palace to see and do if you know where to look for it, and that's why I'm going to help you with that. If you know where everything is, then you'll be able to get around more easily and avoid the areas of highest traffic."
"Because I'd stink up the place."
"More like it will help you to avoid a confrontation," Heidi replied kindly. "Your smell isn't really that bad actually. I think it's getting better already."
"... thanks." Seth blushed a little and then yawned deeply. He was still exhausted.
That made Heidi laugh and give a huge smile, "See what I mean? You're too tired to do much else today. So you should sleep now and I'll come get you bright and early tomorrow morning for that tour. We're in luck for it because most of the coven left for Volterra earlier today. There have been a few political issues which have cropped up along with a few festivals that everyone wants to take part in."
"Vampires like festivals?"
"We enjoy socializing, just like any other human." A wickedly amused grin split Heidi's lips, "That and Felix is anxious for all the fun that we'll get to have with all those drunk humans and their lack of morals when they're inebriated."
Seth choked on air at that, "Please tell me you're not going to be taking advantage of them."
"Of course not." Heidi feigned being scandalized. "I meant that Felix is looking forward to cornering me in a dark alley without having to worry about a couple of humans making a fuss about it.”
By that point, Seth's face was the color of a tomato, "So you're an exhibitionist now."
"That's colorfully put. I didn't know that you knew such big words little boy." Now she was teasing, as evidenced by the huge grin on her face.
"At least I'm not an old pervert with twisted ideas of where to get it on."
"Hey, you won't know it till you try it." Heidi winked suggestively at him as she stood up, grabbed the tray and hurried out of there before Seth could make any comeback at all. In her wake, she left behind one very embarrassed and mortified young shifter.
Seth made a mental note never to asked Heidi EVER for any sort of advice of a romantic or sexual nature. That would be too mentally scarring for anyone; she knew too much and she'd tell it how it was, or at least how she thought it was.
Without her presence, the room felt noticeably empty. Seth hadn't realized just how big and all-encompassing Heidi was until she was gone. It might have had something to do with how beautiful she was, since people like that always seemed to have this huge and very obvious auras around them. But hers felt genuine and warm and welcoming; it made Seth glad that she was a vampire who'd chosen to come and try to befriend him. He greatly appreciated the sentiment.
Sighing heavily, he followed that up with another huge yawn.
“Guess I should really hit the sack...” That was another reason why Seth hated flying; it exhausted him more then any other means of travelling. It was that and the airsickness which really did him in. He really hoped that he wouldn't be required to fly anymore in the near future because that would be torture.
But then again he was already living in his own personal hell with a devil all its own. Actually, he thought that he had better make that two devils. Aro and Jane weren't going to be making his life any easier.
And I can't phase with the damn device on me... that's got to be an unspoken rule right there. Well, at least I can hope to live to a ripe old age, maybe I should make that my goal.
Standing up and stretching his arms above his head, Seth felt the bones crack in his back and all of his muscles release a bit of the tension which had crawled into them. He stripped down to his underwear and crawled back into his new bed that was still unmade from his sleep the night before.
Well, it wasn't like anyone was going to care, really, after all, it wasn't like there was some vampire maid service out there that he could just call to do it all for him.

.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.

“Wake up sleepy head!” Cold hands had grabbed hold of his shoulders and was shaking him lightly, if not a bit rough then humanly possible. “Oh come on... I brought food.”
The hands disappeared from his shoulders, and suddenly Seth's nostrils were filled with the delicious smell of what could possibly be waffles. His half-asleep mind couldn't really process things too well at that moment, but he managed to force his eyes open and he blinked up blearily at Heidi.
“You sleep like the dead, you know that?” she remarked when she saw that he was finally opening his eyes. “And I let you sleep in too; does flying really drain you that much?”
Rolling over and sitting up, Seth made sure that the cover remained firmly over his lower half since he wasn't about to give Heidi a free show. She placed the tray of food on his lap as she settled down onto the edge of his bed for a bit of morning conversation over breakfast; although she didn't have anything.
“I get sick when I fly.”
“You – you get airsick?!” Her tone was disbelieving. Her facial expression matched her tone of voice because her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open just a little. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“I'm not; I get airsick. I don't get seasick though, or motion sick.” Seth shrugged as he took a bite of his waffles. They were good ones too, although they weren't quite up to par with his mother's home made pancakes; those he missed.
“I guess you don't fly a lot.”
“I avoid it whenever possible,” Seth grumbled. “There's not going to be any flying any time soon, right?”
“Not unless you want to launch yourself out a window.”
“I'd rather not.”
Heidi smirked, “Good, because I don't want to have to be peeling a Seth pancake off the marble of the courtyard.”
He rolled his eyes at her, “Very funny.”
“I'm just full of wit here.”
Seth flicked a grape at her head and he wasn't too surprised when it missed and when it thwacked him in the forehead. Stupid vampires and their ridiculous reflexes. That just wasn't fair.
Once Seth had finished breakfast, Heidi took the tray and made him promise her that he'd be dressed and ready to go by the time she got back from returning it to the kitchens. Knowing that he'd be in for worse if he didn't comply, Seth quickly pulled out one of the outfits that Alice had packed for him and dressed quickly.
He'd just finished running a comb through his hair when Heidi returned.
She cast an appreciative eye up and down his body, making sure to pause in all the places that she knew would make him the most uncomfortable, “Oh my, did you have your own personal stylist back in Forks?”
“No, just a shopaholic vampire who loved using me as her personal Ken doll.”
That made Heidi's grin turn a little more playfully evil, “Good. Because I'm going to have to take over where she left off. You're going to need a lot more clothes, and nice ones too, if you're going to blend in with us.”
And after that, Heidi refused to listen to any of his arguments on the subject, because deep down Seth did know that he would need new clothes sooner or later because Alice hadn't pack him much and clothes had a rather nasty tendency to wear out. Plus, he did actually really want to see the city, and he figured that if she was with him then he thought that there would be a higher chance that Aro or Caius would let him go into the city.
Heidi looped her arm through his and quickly pulled him out of the room, closing the door behind them surprisingly softly considering she closed it with her foot. "Alright Seth, shall we start?"
He nodded and waited for her to continue.
"Good. This floor is where a bunch of empty rooms are; most of the guard have their rooms located on the third floor if they want one, or the first floor. This floor is usually reserved for visiting vampires or ones who Aro has a potential interest in as a new member. We had to furnish your room specifically for you though because normally the rooms don't come with a bed since we don't sleep."
The hallway was long, wide and very open. Past the doorway to Seth's room was a long expanse of hall with no doors but huge arches which marked windows on the right, but which led out through French doors onto a wide balcony that looked out over the front gardens. Farther along the hall it faded back into doorways which led into the more of the guest rooms. In the darker areas where windows were absent, there were lighted wall sconces that splashed warm light onto the walls and the ceiling; the entire place was surprisingly inviting but at the same time had a bit of a haunted air to it.
Heidi pointed out the windows to their right, "That out there is the main courtyard. You're free to use it whenever you like, but just be really careful about the flowers; Alec is really quite protective of them."
That surprised Seth. "Alec?"
"Yes, the kid is a bit of a botanist. All of us have our interests, mine is fashion and design, and he took up gardening. He could tell you all the scientific names of each of the plants which grow on the Volturi estate, their common names, where they're from indigenously, and what conditions are best for them to grow in." For a few moments, her expression reflected pride, "I've gotten the lecture from him more then once. I don't suggest that you ask him because he'll start and then he just won't stop."
"Okay..." Seth really didn't have a huge interest in plants, so he'd probably not ask. That and Alec didn't really seem like the most talkative person he'd met.
"Now, follow me. There's not much else to see up here." Heidi pulled him towards a narrow recess in the hallway on the far side of the balcony. "This is one of the servants' stairways that was built into the villa when Aro commissioned it; most of the guard don't use them since they find it a bit degrading, but that's good for you since it's not as well-travelled which means you'll be less likely to run into one of us who isn't so friendly."
The staircase was narrow and the stairs were steep and arranged in a tight spiral. Seth made note not to take them too fast or he'd get dizzy and probably smack into the stone wall. The staircase was lit by the same wall scones as the hallway above them, which through their shadows on the wall in a weird and slightly creepy way.
They emerged out onto the first floor just to the left of the main entrance hall off in one of the two side halls which led off into the different wings of the palace. Heidi immediately pulled him further down the hallway, pointing at doors as they passed them and explaining where they led.
"That leads down to the basement and there's really nothing there of interest, just a bunch of passage ways that connect with the sewers of Volterra. It's how we get into the city without being seen by humans on a sunny day. There's also one that leads down to somewhere. I don't actually know where it leads because it's off limits to everyone but Aro, Caius, and Marcus so you can only use it if you have their express permission or if you're with them. Those doors over there," she indicated a cluster of doors at the end of the hall, "Lead into private rooms so don't go wandering into those if you value your life."
Seth pointed at the two huge oak doors which were on their left, "What about those? What do they open into?"
"Ah, that there is the library. You'd probably find Marcus in there, but he shouldn't bug you too much." She pointed to the turn in the hallway, "That's also off limits right there. That hall leads into Marcus' wing of the palace so you would get into big trouble if you were caught wandering around in there. Aro's wing is in the back and the only way you can get access to it is from either the courtyard or from Caius or Marcus' wings. If you're wondering, Caius' wing is on the other side of the palace."
The tour lasted most of the day and into the late evening since Heidi decided to show him the art room and music rooms which were off the entrance hall and then she'd proceeded to lecture him on the history of the various art pieces and instruments located inside. From there she took him up to the third floor - which earned them a dirty look from a vampire who Heidi greeted as Afton - to show him her room.
"If you ever want to find me, I'm usually in here. Felix shares this room with me but I'll tell him to play nicely if you ever drop by."
Her mate in question was inside the room and he shot her a scowl, "I'm not playing nice with wolves. They'd eat me Heidi."
"Very funny hun, but I know that Seth here wouldn't do that; you're awfully hard to digest, even for me." She grinned and winked at him.
Seth stared at the both of them as though they were crazy and edged a little towards the door.
"I think you're scaring him a bit," Felix remarked.
"Oh, I hardly believe that I could be as scary as you darling." The sweetness practically was dripping off her tone as she spoke the last part. "Besides, if I find out that you mistreated Seth at all, then you're not going to be getting any for a very long time."
Felix rolled his eyes, "I can get hookers for that."
"I know," Heidi's smile turned evil, "But I know that they can't satisfy you the way I can."
At that, Seth clapped his hands over his ears, "Okay! That's enough you two! I'd like to keep some of those mental images out of my head thanks!"
Felix chuckled and raised an eyebrow, "You've got a little virgin there, haven't you?"
Seth blushed furiously, "Th-that's none of your business!"
"Gotcha, you are." Felix continued to grin.
Heidi rolled her eyes at her mate. She placed her hands on Seth's shoulders and steered him back out of the room and into the hall, "That's enough out of you Felix, I'll see you later. Now let's go back to your room Seth and I'll fetch you dinner."

.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.

Exhausted that night, Seth flopped down onto his bed after strippinga and curled up under the covers for a good, long night's sleep.
He woke up late the next day to find his breakfast waiting for him on the table beside the door alongside a

note from Heidi. He chose to get dressed and cleaned up before he went over and picked up the piece of paper that she'd left for him.
Seth, I've gone into the city with Felix to catch the end of the festival. I should be back late tonight but I've asked Chelsea to bring your meals to your room. Sorry, but you're going to be on your own today; I hope that you can manage without me. Heidi.
Rolling his eyes, Seth set the note aside before digging into his breakfast. While he ate, he tried to figure out what he could do for the rest of the day because there wasn't really all that much to do around the palace. The Volturi weren't too keen on technology and had only updated a few things for the sake of convenience. He thought back over all of the places which Heidi had shown him the day before, and finally settled on spending the afternoon at the library.
Opening the door to the hall, Seth quickly glanced up and down it and took a deep breath. He couldn't see or smell any of the vampires having been there recently, so he hoped that he was in the clear for the moment. He slipped out into the hall and quickly made his way towards the servants staircase. He could have taken the main one, but he didn't want to take any chances and accidently run into one of the members of the guard. There was that and it was also because the main staircase was farther from the library then this one.
Seth quickly made his way down the stairs and then towards the library, keeping all of his senses on red alert so that he wouldn't be surprised by having one of the Volturi sneak up behind him or something. He didn't really like the idea of being accosted in a hallway and then possibly used as a test subject for whatever twisted ability the vampire had.
He stopped in front of the huge, ornately carved oak doors which led into the library. Taking a deep breath, Seth reached out and pushed one of the doors open and quickly stepped into the room, letting the door swing shut behind him. It closed with a heavy yet muffled sounding thud.
The library was huge. It had a high, vaulted ceiling and overall had a very gothic feel to it, which was unlike the rest of the palace. He could see a few lead glass windows poking out from between the many bookcases which lined the walls. And in fact, it looked as though the bookcases were built around the windows and in such a way so as to compliment the shape of the room. All of them were made of a darkly stained wood, and were probably about three times as tall as Seth was, maybe taller then that. All of them were stacked with books of varying thicknesses and conditions.
On the far right, Seth could see that the bookcases were designed a little differently. Instead of holding shelves, they were made of what looked like hundreds of wine racks only there were no bottles. In each of the little holes was a scroll. It made Seth wonder just how far these records of human literature, history, everything went back.
The floor of the library was made up of the same white marble as the rest of the palace, only it looked a little worn in places and didn't have the same bright shine that the floors in the rest of the palace did. Between the shelves he could see little copper rails had been set into the floor. He realized that they were for the sliding ladders which you'd need in order to reach the shelves which were higher up then the rest of them. The ladders had the same aged but looked after feel to them as the rest of the room did.
The room itself had a bit of a musty smell to him. It reminded Seth a little of his grandma's house and that was something that he found comforting in its familiarity. Taking a deep breath, Seth quickly realized that he wasn't only smelling the musty smell of old books. There was another smell mixed in there with it.
The scent reminded Seth acutely of home. It smelled like the forests which surrounded La Push but with a spice to it that he couldn't recognize but at the same time he found incredibly appealing. He didn't find it unpleasant, or even mildly discomforting, but it calmed him and made him feel at ease and completely comfortable with his surroundings. Not even Heidi had been able to do that, and she had been nothing but kind to him, and yet this scent had been able to put him into an entirely calm state and make him curious about whose scent it was.
He quickly realized that there had to be someone else in the library because the scent was too fresh to have been even a few minutes old.
That meant that whoever possessed that scent was still in the room with him. Seth knew that he should have felt terrified, but he didn't Instead, he felt completely calm despite the fact that he knew that the owner of this scent had to be a vampire. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he'd always played things by his instincts, and they were telling him to continue on and find out who else was in there with him. An introduction couldn't hurt after all.
Following the smell deeper into the library, Seth found the vampire in question at the very back of the library where there was a small sitting area.
A deep red couch and two matching high-backed arm chairs had been arranged on a deep brown carpet that was spread out in front of a roaring fire. A coffee table had been placed at the center of the arrangement, while end tables were scattered between the chairs and on either end of the couch. A lamp sat on the one between the two chairs, and there were two more lamps on both of the end tables at the ends of the couch. Only the one between the two armchairs was turned on.
The vampire was sitting in the armchair closest to the fire, with a heavy, ancient looking book sitting open in his lap. A pale hand marked his place in the yellowed pages since he'd turned his attention to Seth the moment the young wolf had made his presence known.
Nervously, Seth swallowed and stepped away from the protection of the bookshelf. He stepped into the small sitting area and quickly looked over the vampire, trying to see if he would attack him or strike at him with cruel words or whatever power it was that he possessed.
His face - for the vampire was most definitely male - was arranged into one of subtle confusion. His bright red eyes peered out from dark lashes, and his eyes had a slight slant to him which gave him an exotic yet dark beauty. His eyebrows were black and elegant as they sloped over his eyes. Like every vampire Seth had seen before him, his skin was pale, but the circles around his eyes were a faint purple that seemed to blend into the darkness of his lashes. He had a narrow nose with slightly smooth facial features, but his face was well-proportioned and was just a little narrowed then Aro or Caius'.
Seth noticed that his hair was the same color as a raven's wing, and even had the shine of one to it in the light from the fire and the lap. It came past his chin, but looked as though someone had been at it with scissors since it was full of layers, some of which looked a bit uneven. His bangs were long and fell just past his cheek bone over his right eye. But Seth could feel his intent gaze on him.
He'd be lying if he admit that he found the vampire attractive, because he was. Very much so.
Taking a deep breath, Seth spoke up, "Hi, I'm Seth Clearwater, and you are?"
The vampire seemed to consider him for several moments, before inclining his head slightly and introducing himself, "Marcus."
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Complexity	By : TwilightScribe Category: Twilight Series > Slash Views: 3827 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.

Complexity