into the future — a skill he‘s never had access to — is far more useful than Jasper Hale‘s ability to manipulate emotions, as he already has Chelsea and Corin, whose gifts are similar to Jasper‘s, but more suited to Aro‘s purposes. Aro is deliberate and patient by nature. When he locates a desirable new talent, such as Alice‘s, he plans carefully the best way to acquire it. He doesn‘t make a move if he believes that doing so might destroy that talent. Instead, he bides his time and explores other avenues toward his goal. For example, he might convert human psychics in the hope of duplicating the talent. If a vampire‘s talent is no longer needed — if Aro finds a vampire with a superior version of the same talent or, as in the case of Didyme, one vampire‘s presence interferes with another vampire‘s needed talent — Aro will restructure the guard. Sometimes, as with Didyme, he will do so by execution. However, Aro will allow an amicable separation when he sees no possible threat from releasing the talent, or if he thinks he might need access to that gift in the future but has no way to hold on to it now. This was the case with Eleazar.
Occasionally, vampires approach the Volturi directly to seek a position in the coven.
Usually, Aro already has a better version of the gift or skill being offered, but if not, the applicant is gladly accepted. Vampires who are not satisfactory are allowed to leave in peace.
Other vampires visit the Volturi simply out of curiosity. Aro encourages such pilgrimages, as it gives him a chance to read their minds. More than just a tactical advantage or a chance to locate other talented vampires, these readings provide Aro with much-needed entertainment throughout the millennia. Aro is endlessly interested in any kind of curiosity.
?THE NECKLACE WAS SIMPLE — GOLD WOVEN INTO A THICK ROPE OF
A CHAIN, ALMOST SCALED, LIKE A SMOOTH SNAKE THAT WOULD CURL
CLOSE AROUND THE THROAT. ONE JEWEL HUNG SUSPENDED FROM THE
ROPE: A WHITE DIAMOND THE SIZE OF A GOLF BALL.?
— Bella, on Aro‘s gift (
Aro was torn between wanting Carlisle to stay strong — the limits of Carlisle‘s resolve fascinated him — and wanting him to surrender to his true nature. After about two decades, Carlisle left the Volturi coven on good terms to travel to America. Before he left, his visit with the Volturi was captured in a painting by Francesco Solimena, an Italian painter who favored the Baroque style. Aro intended to drop in on Carlisle later in his life, in four or five hundred years, to see how things had turned out for him.
FAMOUS QUOTES
CAIUS
NAME: Caius
DATE OF BIRTH: Sometime before 1300 B.C.
DATE OF TRANSFORMATION: Unknown
SOURCE OF TRANSFORMATION: Unknown
PLACE OF ORIGIN: Greece
HAIR COLOR: White
EYE COLOR: Red/black, with an overlying milky film (vampire) HEIGHT: 5‘9?
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Caius has an average build and is extremely graceful; he almost appears to be floating when he moves. He has shoulder-length snow-white hair. His white skin is translucent and looks insubstantial.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: He does not possess a quantifiable supernatural ability.
EDUCATION/OCCUPATION: He is one of the three leaders of the Volturi coven, along with Aro and Marcus.
FAMILY/COVEN RELATIONSHIPS: Caius‘s mate is Athenodora. His closest coven members are Aro, Marcus, and Sulpicia. He and the other original Volturi are served by members of the Volturi guard.
Caius was immediately attracted to the idea of joining forces with the gifted vampires.
PERSONAL HISTORY:
Caius was born at least a century before Aro, and was transformed into a vampire when he was in his late forties. Before he met Aro, he‘d run afoul of the Romanian coven. Caius escaped with his life but developed a great hatred for the powerful Romanians. He met a female vampire named Athenodora and they began to travel together as a bonded pair. Caius met Aro for the first time when Aro was only a few years into his vampire life. Young though he was, Aro was already formulating his plan to dominate the vampire world. He had formed a coven with another talented vampire, Marcus. Caius was immediately attracted to the idea of joining forces with the gifted vampires. He didn‘t like feeling weak, knowing that the Romanians — or anyone stronger than him — would be able to destroy him at will. He wanted to be powerful and strong as much as Aro did. Though Caius had no psychic gift, Aro was drawn to Caius‘s ambition and passionate capacity to hate; he saw a great potential for manipulation in
