Twilight: Darling of Volturi (YURI/GL)

The mountain wind howled relentlessly.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with their backs to the gale, Jane, Alec, and Demetri silently watched the center of the rocky training ground. There, two figures faced one another in opposition, one draped in a red cloak, the other in black.

Any vampire familiar with the Volturi's hierarchy would have silently mourned the one wearing red. The captain of the guard possessed terrifying combat ability. Challenging someone like him almost always led to a single outcome: death. Even newborn vampires instinctively feared warriors of his caliber.

Jane quietly assessed the battlefield. In terms of raw strength alone, Sophie, empowered by the overwhelming physical gifts of a newborn, was fully capable of matching Felix. However, Felix surpassed her completely in combat experience.

Sophie's only real chance lay in her supernatural gift.

Through physical contact, she could manipulate another person's memories.

She had already succeeded once against Alec and Fabio, though both victories had relied heavily on surprise and luck. They had underestimated her. Dark gifts were so exceedingly rare that no one could predict them before battle.

But Felix already knew how her ability worked. Once an opponent understood its limitations, Sophie could no longer rely on luck or surprise.

If she could use this training session to discover how to weave her gift naturally into combat...

Then perhaps she might someday achieve victory through the unexpected.

When Aro had first accepted Fabio into the Volturi, he too had been given the opportunity to train. Unfortunately, Fabio's timid nature had left him completely incapable of enduring sparring sessions against any of the four elite guards. In the end, he had been relegated to little more than an outer servant, suitable only for cleanup duties.

If courage alone were measured...

Sophie surpassed him by a mile.

Jane especially appreciated that quality. She hated cowards. She hated people who defied her even more.

Weaklings who obeyed simply because they were powerless brought her no satisfaction.

Rebels who resisted only irritated her.

A talented warrior who possessed tremendous potential yet willingly obeyed her...

That perfectly matched Jane's standards for choosing companions.

Demetri and Felix were both examples of that.

On the training field, a newborn's restless instincts drove Sophie to launch the first attack. Her red cloak swept across nearly half the arena in a brilliant streak.

Felix reacted a fraction of a second later, crossing both forearms before his neck. Based on Jane's instructions, Sophie's primary target would undoubtedly be his head. Using his greater height to increase the distance between Sophie and his neck, Felix prepared himself.

Those vivid red eyes rushed straight toward him.

Sophie leaped into the air, stretching out both arms in an attempt to seize his head.

Prepared this time, Felix threw a heavy punch that struck her arm aside. The tremendous impact launched Sophie through the air.

Fortunately...

The training ground was enormous.

She flew more than fifty meters before crashing into a cliff face, embedding herself in solid rock and leaving behind a human-shaped crater nearly half a meter deep.

The impact shattered her limbs and face. Cracks spread across her features like fractures running through delicate porcelain. Venom immediately surged through her body, rapidly repairing her broken bones, torn muscles, and damaged skin.

Sophie pulled herself free from the rock with considerable effort. This terrifying strength was completely unlike anything she had encountered before.

Both Alec and Demetri had been physically weaker than Sophie.

They compensated through superior technique.

Felix needed no such compensation.

Originally, Sophie had planned to overwhelm him with sheer power and finish the match in a single strike.

Instead...

She had been the one sent flying.

After personally experiencing the failure of confronting him head-on, Sophie immediately changed her approach.

Brute force would never win this battle.

Ironically...

Her current situation resembled Alec's and Demetri's far more closely.

Strategy over strength.

Technique over power.

Sophie replayed their previous fights inside her mind. Their victories had depended on skill. On speed. On remaining close enough to control an opponent's limbs.

Most importantly...

They avoided giving their enemies the opportunity to throw them away with overwhelming force.

Once she finished reorganizing her thoughts, Sophie ignored the fact that every bone in her body had only moments ago been pulverized. She charged straight back toward the center of the arena.

Her desire to fight had completely awakened.

A fierce exhilaration surged through her, something akin to adrenaline flooding her veins...

Even though, after death, her kidneys no longer functioned.

The blood Jane had fed her had become venom. That miraculous substance, which had rewritten her very genetic makeup, seemed to have quietly engraved a warrior's instinct deep into her soul.

Defeat him.

Jane wants me to win.

Her second attack looked almost identical to the first. She lunged directly for Felix's head. The movement was nearly indistinguishable from before.

But this time...

She held back her strength.

It was nothing more than a feint.

The deception worked perfectly. The moment Felix threw another powerful punch intending to launch her away again, Sophie bent her arm sharply and drove her elbow into his fist.

Before he could recover from the momentum...

She slipped neatly behind him.

Turning one's back on an enemy was incredibly dangerous. Felix's combat experience immediately came into play. His broad arms swung outward in a powerful arc, forcing Sophie away before she could launch a surprise attack from behind.

The two separated once more.

This time...

Sophie landed firmly on her feet.

She hadn't been blasted halfway across the battlefield.

Watching from the sidelines, Demetri stood to Jane's left while Alec remained on her right. Seeing the exchange, Demetri nudged Alec with his elbow.

"That punch to the fist..." He grinned. "Very much your style."

Alec glanced sideways at him.

"And circling behind someone for a sneak attack? That's definitely yours."

"She's learning quickly." Jane sounded genuinely surprised. "She copied techniques from both of you."

Sophie possessed remarkably little combat experience.

Strictly speaking...

She had only experienced two real fights.

Escaping Alec.

Being subdued by Demetri.

Yet from each encounter, she had instinctively extracted the most valuable lessons and incorporated them into her own fighting style.

Her improvement was astonishing.

Even so...

Jane still delivered an objective assessment.

"Unfortunately... a clumsy imitation isn't enough to defeat Felix. He knows both of your fighting styles too well."

Those crude imitations might fool wandering vampires who lacked proper training.

Against one of the Volturi's elite guards...

They were nowhere near sufficient.

Throughout the entire battle, Felix had remained where he stood, patiently waiting for Sophie to attack. It was obvious he was only helping train the newborn because Jane had asked him to.

Demetri and Alec understood that perfectly well. The two casually chatted about that evening's hunting trip while watching the match.

Once the sun set...

Today's training would probably come to an end.

Sophie launched her third assault.

This exchange lasted considerably longer than either of the previous two.

Jane watched attentively as Sophie continued adapting.

Almost immediately...

She realized Sophie had adjusted her strategy once again.

Now...

She was deliberately attempting to use her supernatural gift.

Every memory-related ability shared one basic requirement.

Physical contact.

The longer that contact lasted...

The greater the chance the gift would activate.

During the first two exchanges, both fighters had separated almost instantly. Sophie had never possessed enough time.

Now, during the third clash...

She consciously began creating opportunities for herself.

Jane found Sophie's rapid improvement deeply satisfying.

Before she realized it...

A faint smile appeared on her face.

Noticing his sister's obvious good mood, Alec teased her.

"Jane, it looks like you're about to gain a bodyguard who's actually good at close combat."

Demetri immediately seized the opportunity.

"Our Alec is about to lose his job."

The joke referred to Alec's long-standing role as Jane's personal protector during missions. Jane's gift of pain was so overwhelmingly powerful that she had rarely bothered practicing hand-to-hand combat. Combined with the fact that the twins were almost never separated, Alec had always been enough to protect her. As a result, Jane's close-combat skills had gradually fallen behind.

Alec deliberately rolled his wrists with an exaggerated crack.

"Care to test that theory?"

Demetri surrendered immediately.

"We should probably pay more attention to Jane's future bodyguard."

Being the one beaten up personally is far less enjoyable than watching someone else take the beating.

Although Alec secretly worried about his sister's dislike of close combat, he had never intended to force her to change. Instead, he simply continued improving his own abilities so he could protect Jane whenever battle came.

If Jane's new subordinate truly became skilled in close-quarters combat...

Then the two of them could complement each other perfectly during future missions.

That thought alone reassured him considerably.

After several exchanges, Sophie finally began understanding Felix's habits. Direct confrontation was unquestionably where he excelled.

Likewise...

His guard over every vital point never wavered.

Taking advantage of her smaller frame, combined with her superior agility and comparable strength, Sophie repeatedly darted behind him, searching patiently for the perfect opening.

Then...

She drove a vicious kick straight into his back.

Felix crashed face-first onto the ground.

Without wasting even a heartbeat, Sophie seized his wrist tightly.

Her gift activated.

Focusing with everything she had, Sophie searched for the threads of memory woven throughout Felix's mind.

The first time had been unfamiliar.

The second...

Much easier.

As the familiar white threads gradually appeared before her eyes, Sophie immediately gathered them together, twisting them tightly into a single tangled bundle.

Felix's memories abruptly vanished.

His enormous body, which had been on the verge of breaking free, froze completely.

Even his muscles relaxed.

For a brief moment...

He had forgotten why he was lying on the ground at all.

Seizing that fleeting opportunity, Sophie released his wrist. Driving one knee firmly into the center of his back, she wrapped her forearm around his neck from behind, locking him securely in place.

The next step...

Should have been carrying out Jane's command.

Use all your strength.

Twist off his head.

But...

Sophie stopped.

Reason told her that vampires could only truly be killed by fire. Simply tearing off a head wouldn't kill one. As long as it was reattached quickly enough, venom could repair virtually any injury.

Emotionally, however...

Sophie still thought of herself as human.

To overturn decades of instinct and casually rip another person's head from their shoulders...

She simply couldn't do it.

"Finish it!" Jane could no longer remain silent. "What are you waiting for?"

She had watched every second of the fight. When Sophie finally succeeded, a surge of indescribable delight had filled her.

Then...

Sophie hesitated.

Instantly...

That delight transformed into anger.

Jane's shout reminded Sophie...

But it also awakened Felix.

Snapping out of his brief lapse in memory, Felix immediately realized he was pinned in a vulnerable position with his neck completely exposed. His combat instincts reacted before conscious thought.

Grabbing the arm wrapped around his neck, he locked onto Sophie's elbow and twisted violently.

"AAAH!"

Only a heartbeat later did the pain finally reach Sophie's mind.

Her forearm had been torn completely off.

She collapsed onto the ground, rolling in agony.

Felix's strength dwarfed even Demetri's. Unlike Alec, who had merely dislocated or fractured her arm, Felix had ripped it clean from her body and tossed it aside.

In a single instant...

The battle turned around.

Felix gave Sophie almost no time to scream before flipping her over. Repeating the exact same motion, he tore off her remaining arm as well.

Her last chance to resist disappeared.

Another agonized scream echoed through the mountains.

Felix raised his elbow. Carefully aligning it above Sophie's neck...

He drew back slightly.

Then drove it downward with all his might.

A full-powered strike from Felix was capable of shattering an entire mountainside.

If that blow landed...

It wouldn't merely crush Sophie's neck.

Her entire head would explode.

"Felix, stop!" Jane shouted the order immediately.

But Felix had become completely immersed in the battle. His temporarily disrupted memories still hadn't fully recovered.

For the first time in his life...

He committed something he would never have dared while fully conscious.

He ignored Jane's command.

They were too far away.

Jane couldn't possibly reach them in time.

"Felix, stop!"

This time, her red eyes widened as she stared directly at him.

A scream tore through the training ground.

A body collapsed heavily onto the stone.

"Felix!"

Jane activated her gift.

Demetri reacted instantly, sprinting toward the fallen pair to assess the situation.

Meanwhile, Alec quickly grabbed Jane's hand.

"Jane. Calm down. It's only training."

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