Silver Night's Blue Moon

Chapter 5.5 : POWER

Ozario appeared disappointed in himself by the end of the vision and buried his head in the dirt. His body shook, trying to calm down from the adrenaline, in the flashback. In the present day, I started shaking in Ozario's hand and pushed him away. Onyx backed up. He was startled by my behavior and looked worried. I loosened my fearful expression, trying to un-see everything I just witnessed. He was truly a murderer and one worse than death. I tried to speak, but it was so hard. He was so young in the vision. If he was that terrifying, what can he do now?

Forcing my mouth, I began letting out everything I could, "Ozario, I-I heard your heart, and blood, and all of your body's inner movements. I heard your thoughts and everyone else's who is nearby, even the animals, too! And, I… I-I saw… I saw everything you did to that clan centuries ago. You know, the ones who destroyed your town. I don't know how, but… I did that with Aro before, too."

Ozario became completely still. His heart stopped when he heard my words. "Uh… I… Catalina, you're joking, right?"

With my tears developing, I shook my head. They wrestled against me. My tears began sliding down my cheeks as my attempts to hold them back were defeated. No matter what I tried, my body was still quivering. "I saw how you killed them."

I didn't want Ozario to worry any more than I had made him after that. I only wanted his heart to start working again. I could hear the spirals of his thoughts. Everything went blank in his head because of my tears and then he started to freak out even worse. I could sense an increase in tension and horrible nervousness in his body. The thing that made his thoughts more frightening was that his mind did not know how to prevent me from crying. His inner panic was worrisome.

"Cat, please, don't cry? I'm sorry you saw that. I wish I could… I wish I knew how to make you stop. I'm sorry." Ozario tried to reach out to me, but he became overwhelmed with more worry that he pulled back.

Onyx really felt a great deal of anxiety, which I didn't think he had ever expressed before. I walked up to him and gave him a tight hug to try and calm him down again. Ozario also held me. He snuggled me. We could feel each other tremendously shiver. I stopped crying eventually, and we relaxed. He cooed soothing things to me.

I didn't stop crying because of our hug, though. I stopped crying because I started to see Ozario's memories as a butler of the Orchid residence in Italy. The family seemed to have adored him and his brother, Hen, so much. Ozario always acted for the young daughter of the place as a nurturer. He would join them when she had a couple of playmates over and make them laugh all the time. Ozario would make clothes for the little girl merrily and be her guest at the tea party. Seeing this, I smiled and released him.

"You must really like kids," I blurted, mainly to sort of settle what just happened!

Onyx tilted his head. "Huh?" He was confused. First, I said I saw him kill people, and then the next, I told him he loved children. That would be rather odd.

I shrugged and smiled. "You as a butler."

Ozario smiled at me, wiping my left eye with his thumb. His mind finally relaxed and slowly faded away to the point where I could no longer hear anything. I wiped my ear on my shoulder, because all those sounds had left a funny feeling in it. I believed the creepiness was over. I took the hand of Ozario, and we went back to the house.

"Can you still hear everything? See anything," he nervously asked?

I guess, he wanted to check up on how I was doing. I scratched my neck and replied, "The noises and voices have stopped. Ozario, I think I've been doing something strange. I can read minds like Edward, and I can see things like you said Aro can do. It just happened all of a sudden. Like, the last time Aro showed up, I saw a woman who looked exactly like me when he touched my hand. Turns out that I saw the memories of him and his past lover. Kind of gross, but I guess it's cool. I've learned that she was my ancestor and the reason I'm living today. Ambrosia Isis is the reason for the existence of vampires. Crazy." I thought up a hypothesis. "I... So... I think it's got something to do with my blood?"

Ozario stopped. "What do you mean?"

"When we met, I had no powers." I looked at the bite wound on my forearm. "After Caius had bit me and Aro had grabbed my hand, using his power to see my past, I could see his memories at the same time. Perhaps it is my loss of blood," I theorized.

Ozario frowned and groaned. "I thought that too... You mean, it's possible that the only way to use your new-found ability is to bleed to death…" He aggressively shook his head and mumbled, "Depressing. I couldn't even… imagine you having to suffer like that. No way."

"Aw. That is depressing," I whined.

Onyx looked at me with a sad face. He hadn't meant to make me feel bad about it. He bite his lip to think and then happily told me, "You know, I initially thought vampires existed over some vampire-bat bite." Ozario chuckled.

"Did you really believe that," I asked?

Ozario thought over it and then shook his head slowly. "No, I guess not. It's kind of stupid. We should ask the Diviners what really happened. They are right in front of the door."

Ozario and I stepped inside the house. Alice and the fates rushed to hug me. I tried to pull my arms out and hug them back, but it was too hard. They really had me in a strong hold. Actually, it was quite painful…TOO PAINFUL…CAN'T BREATHE. Finally, they let me go and I fell back on the floor, inhaling an enormous whiff of air.

Urdur knelt beside my head. "Sorry," She giggled and said, "We are just sooo excited! We know you finally unlocked your cool new powers! Well, technically, you had them before but..."

"What," I asked in a very difficult voice to explain? Let's say it was stuck between exhaling and trying to inhale at the same time.

Urdur cringed.

Edward clarified for me, "You read my thoughts a second ago. I didn't know how to respond to that. No one, but Aro, has ever done that to me before."

Oooohh… Is that why it's a bad thing? I stood back up with the help of Verdandi. "Uh," I panted. "I… Honestly, I didn't know I could. Apparently, I've got your ability, and also Aro's. But I don't know why. I always had this assumption that a power was based on the way a person previously lived, or most remembered, or already had like Alice. But, me, I always thought I wouldn't have one or had a common ability like resistance, like The Volturi pointed out a few months ago."

Verdandi rested her arm on my shoulder. "Well," She stated, "Let's see... In your life, what's the main thing you've learned during survival training?"

Shrugging, I thought about it. "How to adapt to new circumstances and attempt to resist certain powers that would harm me. I was taught by my mom how to do that. I remember a vampire who was trying to make her implode, and all she did was laugh," I answered. "Somehow, once, I managed to reflect an attack. Whenever I needed to escape, I relied on doing that."

Verdandi exclaimed, "Exactly! Reflect an attack! Wait… Your mom did what now?"

Skuld shook her head, then proceeded to where Verdandi had left off. "Nevermind that, darling. Allow me to finish. You were trained to adapt to circumstances and resist powers, correct? You must have been trained by your adaptable attitude, desires and other lessons as well to be a copycat and crazy absorbent. Take something in and, as you said, reflect it back. You can endure any bodily pain by thinking that it must be imaginative and can backfire the same power against your opponents. You should be able to steal the ability of other individuals as a defensive and combative talent. Clever, huh," she thoroughly explained? She concentrated on my eyes, wowed by the new knowledge.

Urdur gasped! "The power of absorption!"

Verdandi's eyes widen. "Whoa! So rare."

I wiggled my nose a little. "That's…" I mumbled, "A bit unimpressive," I shrugged. "Sounds like an overly powerful ability. It kind of sucks," I commented. "Plus, if it's a defensive and combative talent, what's the point in stealing Edward's and Aro's power. Their power only hurts nothing but people's feelings and privacy. Like what do I need to hide besides the fact that I wet the bed some months ago?"

Eddy gave me a neutral look. "I'm not that useless." Edward paused to think for a second. "Wait. What?"

My eyes bulged. "Nothing."

Ozario covered his mouth, so he wouldn't laugh.

Bella chuckled a little. "Your power doesn't suck... That's awesome," She complimented!

I shrugged. "Highly doubt it. If my ability is truly that powerful, then it makes me an OP - Uh, overpowered - vampire, particularly if I have no limitations... Well. It's a little cool, I guess, but what's the point if I can't even fight because I've finished it already? And who can train me to use a gift like that? You heard Verdandi, it's rare. Seriously, tell me one person with an ability like I have, who any of you may know. If there's no one to help, then it's even lamer 'cause I can't even use it. I wouldn't know how."

Everyone in the room started thinking about it. It seemed like they had a troubling time trying to find one person as powerful as I was supposed to be. Henry started pointing his hand at his younger brother. I looked at Ozario, who was blushing and shaking his head 'no' to Hen. Onyx was pointing at me until he stopped and realized that I was smirking at him. Ozario looked away with wide eyes. I raised an eyebrow and turned to Edward to see if he knew anything. He was shocked and laughed at them. He mouthed, "Wow!"

"Ozario, I think you know someone," I confronted, crossing my arms.

Henry started, chuckling. "Yes, a CEO named, Meridia. She is our old-."

"Shut up," Ozario yelled, causing Henry to crack up even more!

Esme placed her hands on her hips. "We don't use those words in this house, Ozario."

Onyx bawled up. "Sorry, Miss Mom." he glowered at his older brother.

"Meridia," I whispered to myself?

"I'll call her," Henry volunteered!

The others were chatting. Verdandi started laughing at Onyx. Skuld sat by Henry, who searched through his phone. He walked out of the room for a little while. Skuld, smiling and blushing, looked up at me. I saw Urdur beaming with shimmering eyes. Between me and her, Alice made a disgusted face. I began to make a confused face towards them all. Finally, it had just become awkward to stare like this. Even Edward started staring with a worried, narrow-eyed, funny face between me and the nervous, shaking-legged Ozario. Something was obviously about to go down...

Skuld jumped up in glee. I'd never seen so much emotion in her. She cheered, "Yay! We are going to a brothel in Alexandria, Egypt!"

My eyes widened, and I slowly looked toward Onyx.

Ozario face palmed, getting even redder in the cheeks.

"Greeeaaat… My old-," he decreased into a low whisper.

Henry came back, laughing. He happily announced, "Seems like our buddies are excited to see you again, kiddo."

Oni sighed and then smiled. "Oh, if Miss Mom wasn't here, I'd hurt you," he angrily murmured with a creepy grin.

"Isn't that illegal in Egypt," Rosalie inquired?

Hen clarified, "Yes, but in very, very small areas of Alexandria where not too many people know about it, people still get it on. Meridia's brothel, however, has become so incredibly important that she is at high risk of getting arrested. She can, however, help Catherine control her powers! She's got the same defensive ability that she calls, absorption, too. She copied Ozario's talent using skin to skin contact."

"Catherine," I repeated, pointing at myself. Henry was the only one calling me by another Spanish version of my name. I paused and let Henry's words seep in for a sec. I shouted, "Wait! Skin to Skin?!"

I looked at Ozario, but he had already disappeared. Henry nodded, laughing incredibly hard. "He probably didn't want you to meet her for that reason. We used to work there, and she's an old boss of ours. I was an assistant to Meridia ... but Ozario was a..." Henry began cracking up again.

I gasped and covered my mouth. Ozario worked as a prostitute?! What is with this guy and his job picking? First, a freaking serial killer, then he works as an actual freak in the sheets! This was a lot to process… Wait. Ozario has a power after all! What is it? Did I see it in my memory? The sword he used on those men, wasn't it?!

"Ozario has a sword! He is a swordsman," I shouted in amazement!

Henry nodded with a funny face, which meant I hadn't quite got it. "Kind of, Catherine. Metal is a component of his whole body. Ozario is a weapon, period: his shields, his guns, his arrows, his metal poison, and his swords. All metal, especially silver, is what he utilizes in combat. That's why I'm glad he's with the Cullens and you. If my brother goes back into the wrong gang, he'll be nothing more than a dangerous, lethal weapon." Henry was swallowed by a dark and ugly face. He must've been reminded of the hitman thing and of Astrid.

My smile dropped. I looked at the floor in fear of Henry's words. The memory of Ozario and the words of Henry made me realize that Onyx had been used as a weapon too many times, which must be why he became so guarded and strange. His brother must also be fed up. Before that, Onyx was so innocent ... But then, the death of his parents, his ruined town, Edgar's death, his old hitman job, his ex-fiancé, and this new brothel knowledge must have most horrifically corrupted him. Well, probably not the brothel. Who can get upset after a good time? I suppose if the... thing... was bad then maybe. Any way ... Worse of all, the job of the hitman and Astrid was just trying to exploit him and use him for his power. Why did he give them his power? How could anyone, particularly if that person is your fiancé, be so cruel to use someone like that? I made a determined face and assured myself. Ozario, I will not let anybody use you as long as you're with me. Not even myself.

"But, Astrid," shouted Ozario, coming downstairs!

"I can't believe you're still talking to… her! Catalina, sure! The fates are fine! But, her," Astrid yelled, running after him?

"Ugh! It won't be for long," Ozario argued back!

"You have Cat, now! So, you better not look at her big ass," she fussed!

I started to get a little discouraged. I looked at my butt in the window, and I envisioned Meridia with this enormous back. Sadly, I sighed; this mysterious woman could be hotter than me a thousand times. I mean, Ozario knows all these beautiful people already, and let's face it, a lot of Egyptians are hot no matter how fat they choose to get ... Well, to me. My friend Laura, in fact, was born in Egypt and moved to Japan a little earlier than I did. Could I call for some etiquette pointers, perhaps? She was also unbelievably gorgeous and fun. I miss her. If Ozario ever met her, I'm afraid he might detach all of his feelings for me and move on to her.

"Whaa? Meridia and I were never on that level! She was like a soccer mom rooting for her babies on the field. Even the training was something else... I won't even tell you. By the way, being highly doubtful because I could care less about her, especially since Catalina is 100% hotter than she is," Ozario corrected Astrid. He crossed his arms and mumble, "Besides, I never even came close to first base."

I whispered to Henry, "But, I thought you said-."

"I thought so too," Henry whispered back. "Oh! I mean, the kiss. But I guess not." He shrugged.

I sunk my head down, feeling ashamed about thinking so dirty.

Astrid placed her hand on her hip and sassily stated, "That's a lie. You love girls with D cups and Cati is only a C! You also have a fetish for belly rings!"

Ozario gasped. "What?" His voice cracked, "I-I-I. That's private, Astrid!"

Henry started laughing again. "Remember when you first got along with her… and, and you kept tripping up after that. How do you fall when you've already fell," He asked, placing a hand on his chin?

Ozario put his hand over his face and growled. "Why are you guys ganging up on me and TELLING ALL MY BUSINESS! Besides, Catalina does have a belly ring…" he argued. Onyx smirked afterwards.

I gasped and pulled my shirt up a bit to look at my belly. I had a yin and yang attached to my belly button. How did he know I had this?! I didn't show him! Oh … Wait. Ozario has seen me naked twice now. Jerk! Don't drag me into this! My belly needs to stay private! I shoved my shirt back down and glowered at him. Onyx rolled his eyes and placed his hands on his hips.

At our ridiculous chatter, the Cullens could only laugh. Once we decided to take this trip to help get my abilities in order, school was out of the question. I left a message for my friends to let them know that things would be okay. Two days later, we boarded a plane to Egypt to visit this character, Meridia. I sort of liked her already. She sounded kind of cool, and she seemed to like the Fates a lot! In this family, I trusted the advice of many people, especially Ozario and The Diviners. For Renesmee, Jacob came with us too. He was sitting behind Onyx and me, and on the plane, we kept teasing people. Ozario joined in too and then Esme made us stop. It was cool to be on the plane and pinpoint who was a vampire and who was human.

Jacob felt uncomfortable around the outside vampires. "This is going to be a long ride."

"Jac, my boy, it's been a long few months," I uttered. "I bet they think I'm fresh meat. Get your cabab here!"

"Cat, stop," Ozario cracked up!

I blinked. "Oh, I guess that was dumb, huh? My bad."

Jacob chuckled, I heard a few of the Cullens giggle too. After chatting, I fell asleep on Ozario a few times. The whole ride there, he seemed extremely calm. I kept thinking about how much I knew about the Cullens and how they got together. I was still trying to learn exactly who Alice is, and I think I could tell her about her past life with Meridia's help if she ever wanted to know. The background of Ozario and Henry, the Fates, and Astrid was almost unknown... like myself to them.

Well, I had a chance to learn that Ozario was a hitman, a prostitute, a fiancé, a musician, and a butler all by himself. What was Henry if all this time he was living next to his baby brother? The Fates were a strange group of great friends. They seemed to like that they wouldn't be separating anytime soon. They're not exactly family, but a group of friends who have worked for centuries for my family. Ambrosia was somehow helped by them. I wanted to understand a few more things before landing.

"Does Henry have a power," I mumbled my question to Onyx? I laid on his chest, looking up at him.

Lifting his head off his right hand, Ozario looked over at his brother, "Yes, he's been a wonderful big brother for years. This might not be an ability for everyone else, but he took the place of my parents to watch over me. His power is Riri's persistence, and his speech is his weapon. Like Jasper, he is highly skilled in combat. Therefore, before anyone else, he taught me how to fight. He makes a good leader when he takes control of a team and he is a good man. I look up to him, even though our relationship really didn't exist back then but I'm glad it became a thing ... Why?"

"I just wanted to know about you two as a family. What jobs did he take on?" I questioned.

Ozario chuckled. I think he was beginning to notice that I had become sleepy again. His lips twisted. With an eyebrow raised, he grinned a little. "Would you rather I bore you with our life stories?" he challenged.

"I doubt you could but go for it." I accepted, smiling.

Ozario took me up on that, "Hmm… Kay. As children..."

"Oh, gosh... Long story. Ugh! Then again, you are 200. Geezuz." I groaned. "Alright, let me get comfy." I pulled the blanket on me.

Ozario laughed and then continued, "My brother would steal me from our mother in the morning, after we had built a better relationship. We'd run around the streets, jump on carriages, and recently invented, bad, sucky automobiles. He'd take me to this store and motivate me to get this one special harp. I had too small a hand for a guitar, and I had less interest than Henry in the violin. But this harp fitted my hands perfectly, and it sounded so beautiful. It was small so ... Riri knew this, so he helped me earn it. Together, we worked hard to succeed by dancing and singing around the town. So, street performers? Finally, we gained the money for it by the town's pastor. Later, Riri set me up with my first friend, who could help me practice. A boy named, Joshua. He and I decided to do classy performances in front of crowds, for my brother. We did a fantastic job and, since then, my whole class kept playing music and stuff to see citizens smile. I remember we played so well once, birds came perching on our stage. My brother sat at the edge that day, playing his violin. Always my lucky charm, my number one fan… But, on that same day, the gang ran into town, destroying everything." Ozario started revealing a depressed and dark look, like his brother had shown two days ago.

He continued. "The people knew about my family's immortality, the town was a kind of sanctuary? They protected it from the outsiders. Our parents have always tried to protect us and other people. Sadly, that day, Riri and I lost them. That day, no one could've been saved as hoped. Our hometown was completely gone. We saw the rubble, and I didn't know what to do. Angrily, I got revenge for my home; although, Henry told me not to. The gang was a bunch of werewolves and vampires my brother and I encountered twice in the past. For destroying them, my punishment was the scar of my first taste of blood… being addicted to it. We left…Years later, me, I was a killer for the sake to satisfy…" He paused.

"… Satisfy," I uttered sadly.

Ozario blinked and snapped out of the thoughts in his head. "I despise it, now. Before I became the contract executioner, I worked as a tailor... More like a janitor. The boss was racist against Afro-Americans and Hispanics. In fact, he sent a hit on me, which is how I became a hitman. Henry was a cobbler then. I'm glad not at the same shop. Edgar recently made fame and was loved by people. I even got the chance to meet him on my way to kill another murderer."

"… Dang," I said, yawning.

He patted my head and chuckled. "Yes, I worked as his secret assistant as a cover up for my other job. He learned about it and told me the same thing you said, 'It wasn't me.' He and my brother told me I needed to do things for myself and not out of pain. Poe wrote Tell Tale-Heart to stop me and, of course, you know I lost him. I didn't listen. After I took care of the men who killed him, my brother asked if I was happy. Nope, not at all…Anyway. After, we met Astrid. It was Henry who was supposed to date her but somehow, I got involved with her instead. We were the CEO of our own ballroom and Riri took the role as a manager at the time. I just wanted to play the harp and be happy. Later, running from that life, we met Meridia. Henry was her assistant and I…Well." Onyx paused to think of something.

"Henry told me." I smirked.

Ozario growled a little and carried on, "I was her servant, then I took the spot of a prostitute because someone quit. Reluctantly, but needed the money, so I took it. It offered a lot more."

"So you really did it before," I asked from surprise?

Ozario breathed in and smiled wider. "Is it odd sitting next to a skilled man."

"Whoa!" I couldn't contain my laughter after that one.

"Alright, alright." Ozario nodded. "I've done plenty and trust me... It changes a person. We left there and a man found us. We entered the home of a wealthy old man and his young child in Italy. Riri and I took up the job as butlers. Some stranger thought we were monsters, so we had to leave again. We went back to America and worked as medical assistants, then transferred to actual soldiers and fought in World War 1. Then, we became mailmen, but I got involved with Astrid again after one of my runs. Henry stopped me, and she went crazy, so we moved to Forks. I pitied her, then. We worked at a fabric store and I taught some kids how to sew, since I learned when my mother was alive, and the tailor shop gave me tricks, and when I made dresses for my ex-employer's daughter. Henry worked as a clerk and guide for the kids. We'd take them to a nearby playground for recess since we practically babysat them every day. I started getting a completely different outlook on myself and decided a change was needed… So, I somehow managed to get stuck in a teen state of mind. Well at least, that's what my brother says. He also assumes it's why kids like me so much. We met the Cullens at our store, but we didn't officially move in with them when we got to Forks. It was a few years later, after the wolves attacked us, then the volturi attacked me, and then we had no place to stay. Our house burned down because Henry tried to cook one night."

I tried to laugh but I started dozing off like the adorable Asian baby I saw on f*******: once. My head kept nodding from side to side and my smile was weak. Eventually, my head and eyelids felt crazy heavy. My body started to droop. I still tried fighting it, so I could stay up and listen to the rest of the story. Ozario got hotter and cozier. He wrapped his left arm around me and I could hear him giggle a bit. Sleep had finally defeated me.