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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
- 8
- 9
- 10
Title: Complexity

Fandom: Twilight series

Pairing: eventual Marcus/Seth

Part: IX. A Spiral of Minds

Prompt: 002. sweet ; 028. want

Words: 5411 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.

IX. A Spiral of Minds
An unfamiliar scent filled Seth's nostrils as he started to wake up. Slowly, he cracked his eyes open, surprised at the dim light which greeted him when he did. Pushing himself into a sitting position, he blinked blearily and wiped away the sleep from his eyes so that he could get a better look at the room that he now found himself in.
It was definitely not his room, because the walls weren't made of bricks of sandstone, but were covered with a warm, cream colored plaster. The same wall scones that lit the rest of the palace were present in this room, but they had been dimmed and were mounted to the wall by wrought iron vines which twisted up onto the frosted glass. As for furniture, the room was surprisingly empty of it.
The bed which Seth woke up on was a huge four poster, which was carved from ebony. The sheets were a soft golden color – as were the pillows – and the coverlet was a deep crimson that was trimmed with gold embroidery. Besides the bed, the only other piece of furniture in the room was a bureau which matched the bed – in that it was also made from ebony – carved with decorative, elegant designs.
Just on the far side of the bureau was a small door, and on the left was what looked to be a wall made up partially of mirrors, but Seth quickly realized that they were sliding doors. He guessed that they led into the closet, while the smaller door led into the bathroom.
He still had absolutely no idea of where he was though, and he had a vague memory of what had happened the night before.
Pushing the covers off of him, Seth found that he was still fully dressed, just minus his jacket and shoes. He slipped out of the bed, finding a dark red carpet beneath his feet that was surprisingly warm despite the rather cool temperature of the room itself. Not that he was uncomfortable; in fact, he was starting to search through the other scents that he could detect now.
Faintly, he could smell Heidi's familiar scent, along with Alec's; but both were faint and were almost completely lost in the overpowering strength of Marcus'. That surprised him, because the only place which he could think of that had such a strong concentration of the ancient vampire's smell was in the library, and he was pretty sure that he wasn't there.
Which left him with only one viable alternative. He was probably in Marcus' wing.
Quickly, Seth crossed the room to the much larger oak doors which were clearly the exit, and gently opened one and peered out into the empty hallway beyond. A quick sweep of the hall told him that he was definitely in an area of the palace which he hadn't been in before; that only seemed to provide further evidence that he was most likely in Marcus' wing. Especially because his scent was just as powerful outside the room as it was inside of it.
Slipping into the hall, Seth found that the floor was the same white marble as throughout the rest of the palace, only a rich, red carpet ran along the centre of it. Stepping out of the room and into the hall, he looked around, putting his senses on alert to see if he could detect anyone in the wing with him.
Not hearing anything, Seth wondered if it would be alright if he took a little look around the wing or if he should just head back to his own room and pretend that he hadn't woken up in a different area of the palace where he was definitely not supposed to be. He didn't want to imagine the sort of trouble he'd be in if he was caught in one of the Volturi leader's wings; it would make what had happened to him last night look like a massage.
There was just one problem with Seth's plan of getting out of there.
He had absolutely no idea which way the exit was.
It wasn't like he could follow a scent trail out because both Heidi and Alec's scents, along with the faint scent of his own, had been obliterated by Marcus'. That made sense since he was in the ancient vampire's wing, but it presented a problem for Seth's escape. All of the trails which Marcus had left had blended into one another, making it impossible for him to follow one of them out.
“Seth.”
Whipping around, Seth came face to face with the vampire whose wing he was currently standing in one of the hallways of.
Marcus didn't look angry. In fact, his entire face seemed to drain of tension when he saw Seth looking back at him, confused but very much alive and not seeming to have suffered any further complications from the torture which he'd been subjected to the night before. As a matter of fact, relief washed through him at the sight.
“Uh, Marcus why –”
“Are you... alright?” Suddenly the ancient vampire was right in front of him, dark red eyes looking him over with such a close scrutiny that it made Seth blush.
“Yeah, I'm fine, but why am I – okay, where am I?”
At that, Marcus blinked as though to say 'I thought that would be obvious', but he answered anyway, “You're in my wing, why?”
“Last I checked I wasn't allowed in your wing or any of the other's. So... why am I here?” Seth tried to shove away the feelings of warmth which were washing through him at that moment, because all they were doing was make him more confused then he already was.
“I brought you here,” Marcus replied simply. When Seth raised an eyebrow with a silent question, he continued to explain. “I interfered with Jane's little torture session; I put a stop to it. She fears me, but she also has a nasty habit of taking out her frustration on those weaker then her. If I had returned you to your room in the guest wing, she would have only targeted you the moment I left, and that's something which I cannot allow.”
Seth frowned, “I'm going to have to go back there.”
“No. I had Heidi bring your things here.”
That made Seth stare at the vampire as though he was crazy, “And you didn't even think to ask me about this?! This is my life we're talking about!”
At that, Marcus had the decency to look ashamed of himself, “I... you have my sincerest apologies Seth.” He bowed his head, “I was only thinking of ways to keep you from further pain... however, it was wrong of me to take action without consulting you. Can you forgive me?”
“I can take care of myself,” Seth replied slowly. He wasn't so sure of anything anymore, but he knew that Marcus' heart was in the right place and that the vampire was just looking out for him. Plus, he knew that Jane would come after him with even more passion then before; he'd be an idiot to turn down the offer that the ancient vampire was making. “But I guess that I could use your help in this.”
Hesitantly, Marcus raised his eyes from where they'd been staring at the floor, daring to peek at Seth from under his bangs. He hadn't heard any words of forgiveness, but then again, he didn't expect to either. There were many times where he really and truly didn't understand Seth.
“I'm not mad at you Marcus; you don't have to look so down.”
Straightening his neck, Marcus looked down at the young man, taking in the smile on his face that was filled with such warmth that it went straight to his own still heart. If his heart could have still beat, then it would have been pounding fiercely right then.
Marcus let out a sigh, “Again, I must apologize to you Seth... I... have not felt the need to protect someone as much as I do you in many, many years.” Not since her.
“I know.” Seth smiled. From what Heidi had told him about Marcus, he knew that there was something different in the way he acted around him; he just didn't know why that was. The way Marcus was... Seth just didn't know him any other way then the way that he knew him. It was weird, and Seth didn't want to over-think it too much, because he really did like Marcus.
His attraction notwithstanding.
“Look Marcus,” Seth sighed. “I'm not mad at you, and I can sort of understand where you're coming from... so I'm not going to hold this against you. You're forgiven.”
Again, Seth refused to examine how his heart started thumping wildly when he saw Marcus' face light up in a small smile at hearing his words. He had no idea what Marcus was doing to him – and that scared him a lot – but it was also very much welcome because if what he said or did could make the vampire smile like that, then it was worth it.
No matter how wrong it was.
“Thank you.” For a moment, Marcus was unsure of what his mind and body were screaming at him to do, but he finally gave in and reached out, brushing long, pale fingers along Seth's cheek. He marvelled at the heat that the young man gave off. He pulled his hand back before he was tempted to do anything more.
At the contact, Seth's face warmed up even more, turning a bright shade of red. He was familiar with the kind of strength which lurked in those hands, and he knew that even though he was much tougher then a human, he was still vulnerable if Marcus ever chose to utilize his full strength. Seth could still remember the pain from his fight with that young vampire years earlier, and that wasn't something which he was anxious to experience again.
Surprising himself, Seth reached out impulsively and took Marcus' hand in his. He gave the vampire his best grin and also gave the hand a small squeeze as he looked up at the confused vampire whose gaze flickered between their now entwined hands and Seth's face.
“How about you show me where everything is?”
Slowly, Marcus returned Seth's smile, feeling warmth blossoming in his chest, “Of course. Where would you like to start?”
Jerking his thumb at the room which he'd come out of, Seth said, “Start there, and we'll work our way through the wing.”
An incline of the head, “That would be my bedchamber.” Marcus made note of Seth's wide eyes and how red his face was at that bit of knowledge, and it only made him smile more as he continued, “But seeing as how I'm unable to sleep... you're free to use it.”
There was silence for a few minutes, and Marcus wondered if he'd gone a bit far in saying what he had. After all, he did, in a way, consider it to be their room since both of them would be using it. While it was true that Marcus didn't need sleep, that didn't mean that he wouldn't be using the room since he did keep his clothes in the closet there.
“If that makes you uncomfortable, then I can remove my things from the room.” Marcus wanted Seth to feel at home within his wing, and if that meant moving his things out of his own bedchamber and into the nearby storage room, then that was fine with him. He eventually hoped that Seth would grow more comfortable with him, but he wondered if that was maybe hoping for too much.
He wanted so much more from the young man, but he was scared of it too. He was letting go of her, and that was a huge step for him.
“I want you to be happy Marcus, above everything else that is what I want. Even if that means you find it with someone else. We may have eternal life, but that doesn't mean we have an eternity.”
Seth shook his head, “No, that's fine. I mean, this is your wing; I'd feel horrible if I started pushing you out of your own rooms.” He blushed, “And besides, I'm sure that you've got better things to do then watch me sleep.”
An unintentional remainder of what was happening outside the palace walls. Marcus knew that they had a possible newborn on the loose in the countryside which surrounded Volterra, and the two reported murders had been far enough away to not warrant that they dispatch the guard, but it did mean that they were very interested in future developments.
“I have business that needs to be looked after,” Marcus conceded. He knew that Seth had caught on that there was something wrong by the roughness of his voice. It made him uncomfortable that the young man could read him so easily.
“Something tells me that it's not pleasant.”
“It's not.”
They'd started down the hallway slowly, with the windows and French doors which led off onto the courtyard on their right, while they passed pieces of art – sculptures and paintings – on their left. Seth's attention was riveted on the vampire at his side while Marcus was concentrating on Seth.
“There have been some... murders in the area.”
“But I –”
“No it's not us. None of us would be so stupid or so reckless to attack and kill humans so close to Volterra,” Marcus' tone grew rougher, angrier, as he spoke. “Whoever it is is either a very new, young vampire who managed to slip away from their sire, or it's someone who is trying to grab our attention.”
Marcus hadn't realized that he was trembling until Seth placed his other hand on his forearm as they came to a halt in front of the door to his study. He glanced down at the young man, seeing a look of fear cross his face – which only made his anger worse – along with compassion, sympathy.
“You're worried.”
“Yes. All of us are.”
Seth looked skeptical, “I can't picture Aro or Caius being worried about people dying.”
Avoiding that mine field, Marcus clarified just a little, “What I fear is that the killings seem to be coming closer to Volterra. I... I doubt that this is the work of a newborn as Aro seems to believe it is. Whoever it is is trying to get our attention, but for whatever reason, I do not know.”
“That sounds right, actually,” Seth replied. “From what I know of newborns – and that's not much – they're not organized enough to do that sort of thing without being seen. They wouldn't leave so many people alive between wherever those... murders happened and here, so I think that you're right.”
“How –”
“That newborn army in Seattle. We fought against them,” Seth admitted. “The Cullens needed help, and well, we couldn't just ignore a threat which was that close to home so we offered our assistance.”
“... I see.”
“Is there something else on your mind?” Seth peered up at Marcus, taking a step closer to him to get a better look into those red eyes of his. Something was eating at the vampire, and he was trying to hide it and change the subject.
“If it is a newborn,” Marcus began slowly, “Or if it's someone trying to get our attention, then we have placed you in danger.”
Seth frowned and looked confused; Marcus found it adorable and it made him smile just a little before the gravity of the situation crashed back down on him and he looked serious once more.
“You might not realize it Seth, but you smell distinctly of us. Heidi and I in particular since we spend the most time with you.” Marcus looked away from the wolf's eyes, unable to meet them any longer, “We have made you a target, and they may think to strike at you to get at us.”
“I don't think I like where this is going.”
“I doubt that you will,” Marcus acknowledged. “But I would appreciate it if you would hear me out on this issue, because I will not be moved on this matter.”
He returned his eyes to Seth's, dark red boring holes into the hazel eyes which peered back warily at him. Marcus watched as defeated acceptance slipped into those eyes, but he knew that in this instance he couldn't let Seth's power over him weaken his resolve in this matter.
“I do not want you in the city unaccompanied.”
That surprised Seth just a little; he'd been expecting something worse, like being forbidden from going into the city at all, but he could live with that. He hadn't been planning on wandering into Volterra on his own since he wasn't familiar with the city and he spoke absolutely no Italian. He'd get lost easily and wind up like some stupid lost tourist.
“I can live with that,” Seth replied. He smiled up at the vampire, “I wasn't planning on wandering around the city on my own anyway since I'd probably get lost and then someone would have to come looking for me.”
Marcus let out a relieved sigh with a small smile, “Thank you Seth.”
“I can take Heidi with me; she's determined to make sure that I have as big a wardrobe as her, at least.” He rolled his eyes as he thought of his good friend's enthusiasm for shopping. It seemed like fate that he was supposed to be a dress-up doll for female vampires.
“Heidi will not always be there,” Marcus chided the young man. He began to lead Seth towards the door of his study. “She does have a few... duties within the Volturi which she needs to see to, and unfortunately those come before you.”
“I know, she's told me about... about that.” Seth looked at his feet, unconsciously moving a little closer to Marcus' side. He didn't like to think of all the innocent people who were killed in order to sustain the Volturi, some of whom he'd begun to care about very much. But he knew that Aro would never allow them to follow the Cullens' example; he was firm in his belief that human blood was their true food source.
“I am sorry.”
“No, you don't have to apologize; I know that it's how you live, and she... she has tried to explain it to me, so I can sort of understand where she – and you – are coming from with this. It doesn't change anything.” You and her... I still care.
Seth sighed, “I'll try not to think about it... but if she's not around, would you come with me into Volterra?” He looked up at Marcus, giving the vampire his best 'puppy eyes' as Heidi had dubbed them, “I bet you could show me a lot more of the city and its history, and I wouldn't have to go shopping for clothes,” here he made a face which Marcus thought was adorable, “And we could go and check out a bookstore.”
“I would be more then happy too.” Marcus was shocked; he hadn't meant to say that, the words had just jumped out of his mouth before he had the time to think them through. But then he saw the look on Seth's face, and he couldn't find it in himself to take back what he'd said.
“Really? Thanks!” Again, Seth beamed up at the vampire, squeezing his hand gently in his.
Marcus couldn't help but squeeze back with a faint smile. If making Seth happy required him to wander among humans with their twisted and overly complex relationships, then he would deal with it. A headache was worth seeing Seth so happy, so alive. Marcus knew that he would do anything to keep that brightness in Seth's eyes, and to see him smile like he just had.
After a few more moments of comfortable silence, Marcus cleared his throat, cracking open the door to his study which they had stopped in front of. He smiled at Seth, “I believe that I was supposed to be showing you around.”
Seth smiled back playfully, “Yes, I think you were.”

.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.
By the end of the tour, Seth had decided that Marcus' wing had to be the most beautiful place in Italy. Much of it was gothic inspired in terms of the architecture, but many Greek inspirations had managed to make their way into it. Seth had been pleasantly surprised to learn that much of the art which hung in the hallways – that depicted scenes from ancient Greek mythology – had been painted by Marcus himself.
All of the hallways had the same warm cream colored plaster covering them, with deep red carpeting running along the centre of the floor. On occasion, statues and paintings interrupted the expanse of wall between the windows which looked out over the central courtyard of the palace and also the few doors of Marcus' wing which was inhabited by only the two of them.
Marcus' wing was only a single floor, and it had its own courtyard complete with fountain and a huge willow tree which dominated the centre of the courtyard, with the fountain arranged off to one side. The soft tinkling of water, along with the faint sound of the leaves and branches blowing in the breeze was incredibly relaxing, and Seth was already imaging settling down in the yard with a book and just spending an afternoon or two reading.
Most of the rooms weren’t in use and were empty or filled with furniture that was covered in a thin film of dust and probably hadn’t seen daylight in many years.
Seth thought that a lot of it was wasted space since he didn’t think that only one person – or even two – would ever need all of the rooms that was in Marcus’ wing alone. And from what he could guess, it was probably very likely that both Aro and Caius’ wings had a similarly large amount of space.
“This seems like an awful lot of space for one person,” he commented when they returned to the main hall of the wing which led out into the main body of the palace. “And you only use a few of the rooms.
Marcus shrugged, “Aro oversaw the entire design and took very little input from either myself or Caius; he likes grandeur.”
“So I’m used to smaller spaces.” Seth let Marcus lead him towards the sitting room which was just off of the main hall. It was possibly one of Seth’s favourite rooms in the entire palace – next to the library – and he thought that it would be a good place to spend time with Marcus since it guaranteed them peace and quiet without the threat of being interrupted by Jane. “Doesn’t it get lonely having all this space to yourself?”
You share it with me now; I find it much more peaceful. “I…”
Talking about her was always difficult. Hell, Marcus still couldn’t bring himself to even think her name because the wounds were still rather raw and fresh, although they had recently started to heal over. Given a little more time, and they would probably scar over. And even though they would have closed and he would be patched up, he would never quite be able to leave her behind him completely; there would always be a small part of him that was reserved only for her.
The rest of himself, he could give to Seth, and he would give him everything that he was.
Seeming to sense that this was a sensitive topic, Seth quickly back-pedalled, “You don’t have to talk about if you don’t want to. I won’t mention it again.”
At that, Marcus shook his head, clearing his thoughts of the dark turn which they’d taken, “No. It’s not your fault…” He took a deep breath, calming himself so that he wouldn’t sound as though he was falling to pieces at that moment, “Would it be too much to ask for some time before I answer that?”
Seth smiled reassuringly and nodded, “Take all the time you need. I can wait to hear whatever it is that you need to say.”
There were times that Marcus appreciated the kindness which Seth showed to everyone. Although, it only made him feel that much more guilty that he wasn’t able to answer such an innocent question honestly. But hearts could take time to heal, and so he had to be grateful that Seth was able to give him such a courtesy, even if it meant waiting for years.
Marcus hoped that it wouldn’t come to that.
The sitting room had been originally her idea, but Marcus had liked the idea and decided to keep it, even after her death. Even though he used the room frequently, her scent still clung weakly to a few things, such as the pale rose curtains on the windows and in the cream colored antique furniture which was arranged around the huge fireplace. Marcus wasn’t sure why, but he loved fireplaces, even if they couldn’t warm him.
But then again, Seth’s hand was still in his just as it had been for the entire tour, and Marcus knew that if he were to pull his hand away, it would be warm. That was another thing that set him apart from everyone else; it had been centuries since Marcus had last felt such warmth, and he savoured it.
If Seth noticed the faint unfamiliar smell in the room which was the same as the one that still clung to the bed he’d woken up in, he made no comment on the matter. For that, Marcus was relieved.
The large coffee table at the center of the room right in front of the fire place had a large glass top, and was itself made of a decorative, aged golden painted metal. Like much of the motifs in his wing, the support beams and the legs were reminiscent of crawling vines, which was reflected in the matching end tables on either side of the huge antique couch which faced the fireplace.
Two matching arm chairs were on either side of the couch, placed closer to the fireplace. The one on the left looked a bit more worn then the other – it was Marcus’ favourite – and there was an open book of more modern poems lying open over the arm of it. A light cream rug had been rolled out along the centre of the room, and behind the couch was a long, low table with two silver candelabras arranged on either end, and with a spectacularly beautiful painted vase at its centre.
Seth thought it could use some flowers, just like the ones on the tables in the corners of the room. He’d have to ask Heidi which kinds would look best in the room. She was better at that sort of thing then he was, but flowers would need to be replaced regularly, so he’d need to know what to look for.
The back wall of the sitting room had been entirely replaced with glass, something which reminded Seth of the Cullens’ home back in Forks. Two large, ornate French doors open onto the courtyard and had a very lovely view of it.
Someone had hung large pale rose curtains over the wall of glass, which Seth could tell could be closed over the windows in order to give the room a bit of privacy and also to ward off the bright light which filtered into the room.
The light reminded Seth that even in his three years of having spent a lot of time with vampires, he had never seen one of them in the sunlight. The Cullens usually arranged it so that their hunting trips would always fall on days where the sun would shine in Forks, and Jacob was incredibly tight-lipped about the entire thing, despite the fact that Seth knew that he knew.
It was something that had been nagging him for a long time. Vampires seemed to be intensely secretive about what happened when they stepped out into the sun, but Seth knew that it couldn’t hurt them since he did know that both the Cullens and the Volturi went about their business in the light. Heidi had talked about how they needed to keep themselves completely covered during sunny days to prevent people from figuring out what they were.
Before he could think better of it, the question tumbled out of his mouth.
“What happens when you go into the sunlight?”
Marcus whipped around to face Seth, dislodging their entwined hands, surprised at the question. He would have thought – didn’t Seth already know?
“You… you have never…?”
Seth’s face had colored a little when he’d realized that he’d spoken out loud, but at Marcus’ shock he couldn’t help but roll his eyes and cross his arms at the ancient vampire. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t already know. The Cullens were… they were very secretive about it.”
That was something Marcus could understand. No one exactly flaunted their vampiric nature, and showing what happened in the sunlight… well, even he had to admit that it was just a little embarrassing. But then again, would it hurt to share it with Seth?
He decided that it wouldn’t.
“Would you like to see?” And just like before, Marcus could practically feel the phantom heartbeat in his chest, pounding away wildly in his chest at letting this young man see him at what could his potentially most vulnerable moment, the time when even the slight vestiges of humanity which all of them still clung to fell away and revealed what they were to the world.
To put it lightly, it scared him, and yet, it didn’t scare him enough to make him want to refuse. Seth would be living with him, in the same wing of the palace, from then on, he did deserve to know. Especially if Marcus got his way in what he wanted from the young man.
The look which Seth gave him only cemented his decision. Seth’s entire face lit up with the brightest smile that Marcus had seen yet, and his eyes sparkled with excitement. There wasn’t a single trace of fear in his face or in his smell.
“Yeah, I’d like that.” He paused then, and asked, “Are you sure?”
“If you want to see it, then I have no objections.”
At that, Seth’s smile softened, “I don’t want to force you to do anything that you’re not comfortable with. If you want to share this with me, then yes, I’d like to see.”
“Then I would like nothing more then to show you.”
Taking a deep unnecessary breath to steady himself, Marcus stepped away from Seth and safety of the shadowed side of the room. It was rare for Marcus to feel fear, even lately, but the fear that he was experiencing right then was sharp and painful.
Dark whispers in the back of his mind spoke of rejection.
The sun was warm on his cold skin as he took the last step into the light which filtered in through the windows. But the warmth couldn’t compare to what Seth provided him. Marcus felt nervous and hadn’t realized that he’d closed his eyes until he heard the soft gasp from the young man when he revealed his true form in the light.
Opening them, Marcus could see that Seth had clapped his hand over his mouth in shock and was staring at him with wide eyes.
“You’re… beautiful.”
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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