All That Remains

Disclaimer:  I do not own Twilight.  I am not making money off of this.

Summary:  Set during Eclipse, during the fight with the newborns.  Help comes in a unexpected form, a friend of Jasper’s that should have died hundreds of years ago.

Chapter 1

Burn

There was no escape, we had to fight.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  There were so many newborns that some of us may not be able to make it out alive.  As it was, we were losing.  The wolves had been pushed back and Emmett had even cried out in pain as his arm was ripped off (though he had quickly reattached it.

But the world works in mysterious ways, and the beating of heart, the sound of running footsteps…this was mysterious in the oddly silent battleground.

Just below the surface  Of an ordinary town  Burn the devils underground  Murder fills the skies above  My eyes upon the earth  Why didn't I realize?  See for the first time  In my life defending

I froze, seeing a face that should have been nothing but bone or dust by now.  Gideon Saber.style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>  All that remains  Shall end in flames  The same old story  But the names have all been changed  The fatal mistake you made  Was of all the hearts you'd slain  How you left alive my bloody valentine

He removed a dagger from his hip and drew a long line along his hand and up his arm, blood spilling to the ground, blood as black as obsidian.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  The newborns turned away from us and all looked at him.

He hadn’t changed in all the years since I had seen him.  His hair was still long and held back by a leather cord, his clothes were from this century, but he hadn’t aged a single day since his death.  Since the death he had met while I held him, a bullet burning through his heart.style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>  Gravity unshackles you  And now you float away  Looking back upon your grave  You can't outrun your shadow  You can only shut the lights  Pluck out your wicked eyes  See for the first time  In your life defending   

I could feel the sense of purpose radiating off of him in waves.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  His eyes met mine and he smirked, the newborns closing in on him, and then his form vanished, not just from view because he was surrounded by newborns, but he fully vanished into a thick black mist that shifted through the air before reforming beside me.

  All that remains  Shall end in flames  The same old story  But the names have all been changed  The fatal mistake you made  Was of all the hearts you'd slain  How you left alive my bloody valentine

“How?style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  What?”

“You were losing, I figured I owed you a chance at winning this fight, after all, you comforted me while I met my death.”

So he was dead, and yet his heart was beating as if he was alive and his blood smelled just like any humans.

“Illusions Jasper, all illusions.”

His heart became silent then, and I noticed that there was no longer a wound on his arm.  class=GramE>Illusions, all illusions.  Aiming at the enemy  I only smash the mirror  Pluck out your wicked eyes  See for the first time in your life defending

“What are you then?  How are you here?  Am I already dead and simply reliving the moment of my death?”

“You are alive, or as alive as any vampire can be.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  I am the dead one Jasper, but even the dead can return to defend a friend.  class=GramE>Even if demonic blood runs through their frozen veins.”style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>  All that remains  Shall end in flames  The same old story  But the names have all been changed  The fatal mistake you made  Was of all the hearts you'd slain  How you kept alive my bloody valentine

All of the newborns in the area had converged on that one area, all of them trying to get at the blood that had been spilled on the ground.  Gideon slowly pulled a device from his pocket and handed it over.  It was a small rod with a button on top.

“I’ll let you do the honors.”

I pushed the button and jumped back in surprise as a wall of fire engulfed the newborns.  I could hear their screams as they tried to escape, but the fire burned far too hot for them to even more.  It wasn’t long before the screams died out all together, wasn’t long before Edward, Seth, and Bella joined us.

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I pushed myself faster, I had set the tap ahead of time, but it was useless if I was not able to get the newborns to converge on the spot where they were needed.  I broke through the tree cover and ran to the center of the trigger point.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> 

I slowly pulled a dagger from my hip sheath and raised both it and my arms over my head.  I cut from the tip of my middle finger to the elbow, black blood running from my body.  I had created the illusion of the scent, the illusion of my heart beat, but no illusion could cover the blackness of my blood.

I waited until I was surrounded and took my mist form, floating up and over them as they continued to fight to get to the fallen blood.  I landed beside Jasper, a soft smile on my face.

“How?style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  What?”

“You were losing, I figured I owed you a chance at winning this fight, after all, you comforted me while I met my death.”

I wanted so badly to hug my old friend, but now was not the time.

“Illusions Jasper, all illusions.”

“What are you then?  How are you here?  Am I already dead and simply reliving the moment of my death?”

“You are alive, or as alive as any vampire can be.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  I am the dead one Jasper, but even the dead can return to defend a friend.  class=GramE>Even if demonic blood runs through their frozen veins.”style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>   

All of the newborns in the area had converged on the trigger spot, all of them trying to get at the blood that had been spilled on the ground.  I slowly pulled a device from my pocket and handed it over.  It was a small rod with a button on top.

“I’ll let you do the honors.”

I smirked as Jasper jumped back after hitting the detonator button.  All of his family and friends had jumped back as well at the wall of fire that was quickly consuming the newborns.  I turned when wolves entered the clearing, soon followed by a human and another vampire.

“How did I not see this?  How did I not see this was going to happen?style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  How?”

I turned to the woman standing beside Jasper and smirked.

“Not all things in the world can be seen.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  This was just one of those things; don’t eat yourself up over it.”  I slowly turned to Jasper, my eyes dark.  “You and I will speak when soon, but for the moment I must go.”  I turned myself into my mist form, and floated up into the air just before a group of vampires could enter the clearing.

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The song is All That Remains by THREE