[Main POV]
Aro was the first to appear and speak to me, cloaked in a dark mantle that fluttered in the cold, windswept night. His gaze was the same one I'd grown used to—stern, unreadable—but when our eyes met, I saw something rare flicker there: tenderness. Perhaps not seeing his son for over thirty years had slightly softened that marble-cold heart of his. He was also the first to speak.
"Thirty years…" he said, his voice like wind and steel. "And you're still the same young man who left this place."
I listened closely to his words and smiled faintly at the end—not because they were entirely true, but because they weren't entirely false either. I'd call it a paradox.
"I'm not the same, Father. I carry many worlds inside me. And I feel like I need to share them with you."
I said it with a slight smile, because whether I liked it or not, I had missed them all—Aro included. I waited for his reply, but—
Before he could respond, a pale blur crossed the courtyard. Didyme. Still radiant, still herself—but different. Her eyes, once bright with human joy, now glowed with a deep, eternal crimson. I knew exactly what that meant. She stopped just a few paces from me, her mouth slightly open, eyes brimming with emotion. If she hadn't been turned, I knew she would've been in tears.
"By the gods, Morpheus…" her voice faltered, breaking the silence. "You're real? You're really here? You're not some mirage born of my longing?"
There was pain in her voice—deeper than I'd expected. Since the moment I arrived in this world, I'd always seen Didyme as a younger sister, even though she was technically my aunt and older than me in this body. We had played and fought plenty, but the truth is, she was the first person I ever truly bonded with. My first friend. My first safe haven. My family.
Aro had never been the affectionate type—expecting warmth from him had always been a lost cause. But Didyme? She was different. I genuinely saw her as family.
With that in mind, I stepped forward. And she suddenly wrapped me in a fierce, loving embrace—like someone clinging to time itself, refusing to let it slip away.
"You vanished," she whispered against my shoulder. "And I was scared you were gone for good. Amun told me all about what you built in Egypt… but hearing it from someone else was never the same. It wasn't like hearing your laugh, your terrible jokes—or the ones that didn't even make sense."
I listened closely, and replied with something I knew she wouldn't like—but that needed to be said.
"I had to go, Aunt. You know I've always wanted to grow stronger, to find my own strength and place in the world."
She pulled back, clearly hurt, but managed a shaky smile, still holding my shoulders.
"You always refused to call me 'Aunt,' you stubborn mule. And now, thirty years later, you return a grown man and finally call me that… and more. You came back… different. I can feel it in you—your aura has completely changed."
After speaking with Didyme a little longer, I turned back to Aro and asked them both something. Something that had weighed heavily on me—one of the main reasons it had taken me so long to return. The thing that has started wars throughout history. The force behind desire and thought. The one that kept me away from Sparta…
A woman.
"She's not here," I said, though it sounded more like a question. Then I asked, "What happened to her?"
My question carried genuine curiosity. Hearing it, Didyme stepped in to answer.
"You mean Sulpicia?" she asked, her voice unsure.
I responded the same way I always had when it came to her—since the day I was born.
"Who else would I be talking about, Didy?"
The moment I said it, her expression changed—from bright and cheerful to visibly irritated.
"Morpheus!" she scolded, and it instantly brought back memories of the years I'd spent with her and Sulpicia, all the mischief we got into. But unlike old times, she calmed herself in just seconds and returned to a more composed state before continuing:**
"She's still angry with you, Morpheus. She chose not to come see you. But you can go meet her at our coven's base. Also, you really need to talk to Marcus. I mentioned it in my letters. You know he and I are together now, and I'd like you to talk with him again. Just because you know him doesn't mean a conversation isn't necessary."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Me? Why should I talk to him? I already know him, don't I?"
She gave me the kind of look reserved for idiots.
"You're still a fool—even after thirty years."
I burst out laughing at her comment, and together we headed toward the newly founded Volturi castle.
The newly established Volturi stronghold loomed before us with an almost supernatural grandeur. It didn't resemble the castle from the movies—of course not, the Volturi hadn't yet moved to Volterra in Tuscany, Italy. But this place could only be described as breathtaking. Its black towers pierced the overcast sky like ancient spears, and the dark stone façade seemed to drink in the night's meager light. It exuded solidity, power, and a sense of timelessness.
Massive wrought-iron gates guarded the main entrance, etched with long-forgotten symbols—silent reminders of the clan's power and history. Narrow, towering windows revealed little of the interior, except for the occasional red glint—echoes of eyes watching the night.
As we stepped inside, a reverent hush fell over us. The grand hall was vast, supported by pillars of black marble and lit by eternal torches, their flames dancing without heat.
After a brief conversation, I wandered the castle. I passed by a few servants and several unfamiliar vampires—likely newborns created by Aro and Marcus. As I walked across the courtyard, I noticed movement in the distance. And then she appeared.
Sulpicia.
I remembered the fifteen-year-old girl I'd left behind—impulsive, full of dreams, always trying to keep up with me in training, even when I asked her not to. Her eyes always sought mine, even when she pretended they didn't. And now… now she moved with the cold grace of a queen.
Her hair, once tied in girlish braids, now flowed freely and dark down to her waist. Her formerly sky-blue eyes now gleamed with a vivid red—and more than that, they'd lost their innocence. There was pain in them. A sense of something missing.
When she saw me, she walked up and stood right in front of me. For a moment, no one said a word. Only the wind whispered between us.
"So you came back," she said, her voice steady, but with a tremor that betrayed her emotions. "After all this time."
"I did," I replied. "And there hasn't been a single day I didn't think of what I left behind."
Her eyes lit up with a silent fury. But there was hurt too. And something else… something that had never truly faded.
"You left me when I was just a girl, Morpheus. You thought I couldn't handle your absence. But Aro turned me. Made me his queen. And even so… even now, nothing inside me stopped wishing it had been you."
I was speechless. My eyes locked with hers, and something there stopped me cold.