Disclaimer: I do not own the Lunar Chronicles or any of the characters or settings! Thank god!
Cress sat on the crate and swung her legs forward, banging them against the crate each time they fell again. She stared down at her knees as Wolf paced in front of her, nervous energy rolling off of him. Sometimes his energy was palpable, and she almost thought they had been wrong all along to call her a shell. But no, that was just Wolf.
She slipped her head up to regard him. They were alone in the room, save for Darla's presence, but unlike what she had heard of Iko's escapades as the Rampion, Darla was much more… respectful of privacy. If only because she wasn't as emotionally affected by it as Iko seemed to be, even as an android.
"Hey, Wolf?"
Her voice was quiet; she was sure he wouldn't be able to hear her had he not had advanced hearing.
He stopped pacing so quickly it nearly made him fall over. He hadn't been expecting her to speak at all. "Yeah?"
"Why did you choose to save Scarlet, knowing it could get you killed?"
He started pacing again. They would be in the Queen's palace in less than twelve hours, Cress dismantling the security from the safe house. She had spent weeks tweaking what little technology was there so she could use it without being tracked–at least for a while. She wasn't sure exactly how long she could stave off detection. Cinder had asked her for two hours, at most. After that, Cress would have more guards turned to their side to protect her.
Wolf visibly tensed at the sound of Scarlet's name. "She-she's-"
"Your alpha star," she finished.
"Yeah."
Cress chewed her lip. "But was she before that? Before the Opera House?"
She had heard from Cinder what she and Thorne had learned about what happened in the Opera House in Paris, and it had not been a net drama-worthy story. Not one that wouldn't have forced her under her desk in utter fear of the evils that exist in the world, at least.
He clenched his fists, still pacing, still pacing. "No. She was important to me, though, even if it'd only been a day. Eventually you realize that some things are worth scarring for, worth bruising for. Scarlet was worth it all and more."
She took the words and tucked them deep into her heart for safe keeping.
Cress was not supposed to leave the safe house.
But when the guards arrived, and one had informed her of how things had turned as they were leaving the palace, she had to go. The security was down, for now. She had time. She had to do something, and it didn't involve standing there and hoping her friends didn't die. Kai had only stayed behind when Cress reminded him that he had an entire country to return to, though she knew it had never been far from his mind.
She took the secret tunnel that connected the safe house to the palace, which Winter had had made by guards who had been on her side since the beginning of her small, personal rebellion.
She ran as fast as her small legs and average lungs could take her.
Cinder and Wolf were in the Throne room, according to the guards, and they were advancing on Levana, while Thorne was fending off any thaumaturges that were coming towards them. Cinder's control was stretched between Wolf and Thorne, who wasn't even in the same room as her. Cress had to help.
She was heaving air in and out as she rounded corners, following her vague memory of the palace blueprints they had been studying for the last week. She dodged dead bodies, scaled over forgotten weapons and jumped over puddles of blood as if none of it was there. She had grabbed a single gun from the ground as she neared her destination, though the only time she had ever held one was when she was aiming for Thorne on that rooftop. But she couldn't go in unarmed.
She skidded into view of the throne room, bracing herself on her knees to try and catch her breath.
Thorne was surrounded by three thaumaturges, and no one noticed Cress. No one could sense her, and she was too little to make enough noise to break through the tension in the air.
She had to save him. There was no way Cinder could keep her control up for much longer, not with Levana in the same room. But Cress knew that Cinder was stronger than Levana, even if the wretched queen would never let the words be spoken.
She raised the gun, kept both eyes open, just as she had noted Thorne doing when he was practicing his aim. She'd noticed him doing a lot of things.
The thaumaturge was just in line with the barrel of her gun. Bracing herself for the kickback, she planted her feet and held the gun with both hands.
She fired.
The bullet had only grazed the thaumaturge's neck, but it was enough to change the tide of the standoff.
Every head snapped to her.
"C-Cress?" Throne was visibly struggling to speak over the clamps Cinder had on his mind. "You aren't supposed to be here!"
"I have to help you," she said, her voice firm, though still with that childish tone to it.
The most horrid laugh cut through them. Aimery. Stars above, why did it have to be Aimery? "Good stars, a shell? This is who was sent to save you?"
Cress lifted the gun and fired again, no hesitation, and it had given her more luck this time.
It hit a thaumaturge right in the stomach, and he collapsed to the floor. Maybe not dead, but useless nonetheless.
If only it had been Aimery.
Thorne nodded at her, and prepared for a fight with a renewed hope clear in his eyes.
They were no longer outnumbered, but there was a grave power imbalance.
And, stars and galaxies above, why did it have to be Aimery?
There was shouting from the Throne room, but they couldn't lose their focus. Not with Aimery's smug grin cutting through Cress's hope like the sharpest sword.
Thorne managed to get a shot off in the other thaumaturge, who'd been taunting him with his own gun, promising an afterlife that Thorne would prefer.
Aimery was the only one left, tapping the barrel of his gun against his temple as he paced around Thorne, musing about being tested by an Earthen and a pathetic shell.
Cress realized that he was slowly breaking through Cinder's control. Thorne's fingers twitched, the gun in his hand stabilizing, the fear blooming in his eyes.
She had to act, and she had to act fast.
Whatever she had to do, it would not end well for her.
Some things are worth scarring for, Wolf had told her.
Thorne was worth scarring for, worth bruising for.
As his back was turned from her, she slowly set the gun on the ground, and then she pushed off of her back foot and lunged at him.
Aimery hardly budged, but she knew it would be enough for him to even momentarily lose his control.
But he pushed her back, far stronger than she could have ever hoped to be, and all she felt was searing pain in her skull, all she heard was a bang, and then there was nothing.
Author's Note: See! I told you guys I was working on something! This is my next multi-chapter fic. It's gonna be centered around our darling Cress and, yeah! It won't be super long, but I'm pretty excited about it. :) I have the next chapter written, and the one after that is just about finished! I won't be writing much the next week, but I'll try to get on top of it after that! I hope you enjoy!