Notes: Hello and thanks for checking out this little short I've put together. I feel like this chapter does what I wanted to do with it and so this is the only chapter I plan to put out for it right now. I do have an idea for a follow up, but don't expect much more from this story.
Still I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave your thoughts and questions in the review section.
Ignorance Is Bliss
I have been having the same recurring nightmare for a few years now. This dream would always start the same way. I would always be standing upon a ruined tower in the dead of night. A Grimm far too large to be real would always be perched there beside me, its glowing red eyes always staring through. I would always want to look away, but would find myself unable.
In the distance I could always make out the faint sounds of combat. There was always the crack of gunfire, the clank of metal against metal, and the horrific screams of those who were unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of the carnage.
I would always try not to focus on the world outside the tower. It was too horrific, but the dream would always have other plans. Even if I tried to look away, I would always find my gaze drawn back. I would always see young men and woman fighting for their lives against a seemingly endless horde of beast and machine alike. Some would always make it out, while others would always fall.
It was quite formulate after a while, but I could never get used to this. I'm not sure if I would want to. I just want it to stop, and the worst part was still yet to come.
The true horror would always be preceded by a terrible screeching noise. When the noise stopped is when she would arrive. A red haired girl with green eyes and dressed in battle armor, girl being the proper term given the fact that she couldn't have been any older than twenty. She was so young, but her expression was always so sharp and determined. She hated me and she wanted to kill me, I'm sure.
She would never say what I did to draw her ire, but the girl would never back down. She would come after me with everything she had and I would some how always win. At that time she would always pose the same question. "Do you believe in destiny?" The girl would always ask me.
"Yes." That is what I would always say before I would take the poor girl's life. She would never cry or beg, but I always see the pain in her eyes.
Then as soon as the girl's ashes settled on the broken floor another would appear. A smaller girl with watery eyes that shown an unsettling silver. She would always cry out for the girl who had come before her and then the world would disappear in a flash of white light.
That is when I would always wake up.
When I awoke it was to the infuriating blare of an alarm. The alarm seemed to have a certain rhythm to it. It was not unlike the kind you would hear a scroll admit, but it wasn't a tune that I recognized. Of course that fact by itself wasn't all that alerting, but for the life of me I couldn't remember even setting one the night before which did raise a few red flags.
I tried to reassure myself that it was just the work of one of my subordinates. Maybe they wanted to get an early start to the day and squeeze in some extra training. I had ordered them to make sure they're prepared for what was to come, so that would make sense.
However, if that was truly the case it would mean they knowingly set an alarm that I would doubtlessly be in earshot of without consulting me first. Surely neither Emerald nor Mercury would be so foolish, or at least she hoped not. One simply didn't interrupt the beauty sleep of Cinder Fall and expect to live long enough to tell the tale.
When I finally raised myself up to investigate the infernal racket I took one look around and froze. "Where am I?" I didn't recall falling asleep in such a place and if I didn't know where I was, something was very wrong.
This place wasn't my dorm room back at Beacon nor was it any of my usual hideouts, or even a hotel room. Though it did seem to be a bedroom of some sort, it just wasn't one that I recognized in the slightest. However, what made this realization all the more unsettling was how closely it seemed to match my personal tastes. The blinds to the room were closed and there were no lights on, so the room was quite dark making visibility poor at best. On top of that, something seemed to be obstructing my left eye, but I could still make out a few things around me. The room was nice and out of everything there were only a few questionable pieces scattered about. I would have approved of just about everything else in the room. The décor, the furniture, even the bedding I was wrapped in were to my liking. Yet, I didn't know this place. How curious.
Continuing to take in the room, I finally located the source of that blasted noise. Just as I originally suspected, it was a scroll alarm. The scroll in question was resting on one of two night stands that flanked the king sized bed she was in and it was on her side. Since it was in arm's reach I quickly ripped it off the nightstand to silence it, but the moment I got a good look at it, something about it caught my eye. The scroll wasn't like any I had seen before. It was slightly smaller and sleeker, but it also looked far more advanced than even the experimental ones you usually found on the Atlas black market. I realized this fact the moment I had touched it because when I made contact the thing not only silenced itself, but it greeted me as it came alive. I watched as it unlocked itself and started to project an elaborate interface before my eyes.
Many of the icons were unlabeled and there were quite a few that I didn't recognize, but after clicking through a few of them, I found that all of the usual things were still there. I had the call history, messages, contacts, camera, internet, and the calendar. All you could ever need to learn everything about a person right in the palm of my hand. I always found it funny how dangerous such conveyances could be when one wasn't careful with them.
Eager to get to the bottom of this strange situation I began systematically checking all of the scrolls contents, starting with the call and message logs. The call logs didn't offer much, only that the owner contacted a man by the name of Victor quite often. The messages were far more revealing however. Apparently the scroll belonged to woman named Cindy Cross, a married middle-aged housewife with a psychiatrist husband by the name of guess who? Dr. Victor L Cross. "A doctor, huh." Well I suppose that would explain the expensive tastes, but it did nothing to explain her presence here in their house so she pressed on.
There was very little in the way of photos. She suspected as much since a message she came across earlier mentioned that the camera had been damaged at some point, but the few photos she could find seemed to primarily feature two people. The first was a tall middle aged man with messy brown hair and emerald eyes and the second a small toddler with short black hair and amber eyes. I had to assume this man was the owner's husband and the child their own. There didn't however, seem to be any photos of the owner herself.
A logical person would of course say that of course there wouldn't be many photos of the owner. Why would they take photos of themselves? After all, everyone who knew who they are should by default know what they look like, and anyone who didn't shouldn't care. However, I knew better than to have that much faith in humanity. Though even if I didn't understand the appeal of the "selfie", I knew how prevalent it was in today's modern society. So either the owner much like herself didn't care for the silly tradition, or also like herself didn't like standing out more then she had to.
With her stance on the selfie along with her fine tastes, I felt myself beginning to like this Cindy Cross. Though, there was still much more information that I needed so I pressed on. Still in the camera I decided to click over into the recorded videos tap and when I did, one video's title instantly caught my eye. "To Cinder Fall. Please Watch." I read allowed. "Now we're getting somewhere." I said as a slammed my finger down on the play button. With a short delay to load, the holographic display shifted and expanded to the size of your average monitor screen and shortly thereafter, a video began to play.
The video started off in a brightly lit room that looked similar if not the same as the one I was currently in. Sat in the middle of the frame was a middle aged woman who was staring intently into the camera. The moment I saw her something struck me. It was an unsettlingly familiar feeling, but one I couldn't quite place. She was quite beautiful with her shoulder length raven black hair that was only just starting to gray and one of her eyes glowed of bright amber. The other was hidden behind her dark mane, but she could see scar tissue peeking out from the edges telling me that it might not be there at all.
The more I looked upon the woman, the stronger the unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach became. I could almost swear that this woman look just like, no that that's not possible, it couldn't be.
"Hello Cinder," The woman begins as her gaze seems to catch mine and hold onto it. "I'm Cindy Cross. Though, I suspect since you have our scroll you know that already." The woman laughed, causing me to grit my teeth. "I know you are confused and looking for answers right now so I'm just going to get straight to the point. If you're watching this right now, that means you're having another one of our episodes." Episodes? What the hell is this woman talking about?! "If you want answers, what I need you to do is contact Victor. He will know what to do." She explained and with an uneven smile she added. "He always does." Then the woman stood up and reached towards the camera cutting the video short.
"What in Monty's name was that!?" I screeched in frustration. I couldn't make head or tails of what I just saw. "You couldn't tell me anything yourself!?"
I had to take a moment to calm myself down. After taking a few deep breaths, I let out a sigh and threw off my covers so I could climb out of bed. I wasn't sure what kind of game these people were playing, but I wasn't going to let them do whatever they wanted. Obviously this scroll was just planted to trick me, I should've known better. Well nothing that could be done about that now, so I just needed a minute to get my bearings. First thing was first, however. I needed to find a light switch. Even if the scroll was a bust I still needed to inspect the rest of the room, it could hold more clues but was still too dark.
The search for light didn't take me very long as I stumbled right into a black standing lamp a moment later. After preventing the lamp from tumbling over and muttering a curse, I clicked on the lamp illuminating the room.
Now that I had light, I allowed my eyes to once again scan over the room. Just like before I didn't find anything particularly unusual about it, just a bed, a few nightstands, his and her dressers, a bookshelf, a walk in closet, and an attached bathroom beside the door you suspected led out into the rest of the house. Nothing really jumped out at me as worth further investigation. However, something did still catch me eye and it was what I was wearing.
Now that I could see myself properly, I noticed that I was wearing some sort of silk nightgown. There was nothing really unusual about that since I often wore such garments. However, this nightgown left less to the imagination than my standard fare, and I knew that I had no such garment in my collection. Even if I did, I would have no use for it at Beacon. That meant that I either had large gaps in my memory or that somebody had changed my clothes while I slept. If the latter was true, somebody was getting roasted alive.
Suddenly wanting to get a better look at myself, I made my way over to the walk in closet. I had noticed earlier that it had a full length mirror attached to the door which made it perfect for my purposes. However, as I approached and my reflexion became more clear I felt my mind seize. In an instant my ability to process what I was seeing had been overwhelmed and the uneasy feeling that had been pooling in the pit of my stomach ever since I watched that video was now threatening to erupt from within me. I had to shake my head clear and swallow hard to prevent it such an embarressment.
The cause of my sudden panic was the figure staring back at me from the other side of the mirror. It wasn't me, it wasn't Cinder Fall, it couldn't be me, but I did know who it was. Cindy Cross. Her hair was shorter than it was in the video and the patch that covered her left eye was clearly visible, but it was definitely her. "How?" That is all I could think or say at that moment. I know who I am, I know what I am, and this isn't it. "How are you here!?" I shouted, but Cindy wouldn't answer.
"Who are you!?" I demanded, but the woman in the mirror still only mocked me with her mimicry. I was shaking now and could barely hold myself up. Was I hyperventilating? No, Cinder Fall doesn't have panic attacks. Cinder Fall isn't afraid of anything. "Stop shaking you coward!" I shouted at my own reflection.
"You know what you have to do, Cinder." The girl in the mirror said.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" I hissed.
The girl in the mirror shook her head. "I already told you, Cinder. Just call him, he can help. He always does."
"I don't need that man, I don't need anyone!" Am I arguing with myself? Have I gone off the deep end? No, I did that a long time ago and it never felt this wrong.
"I know you don't Cinder, but I do. Please, if not for yourself than call him for me." The woman in the mirror pleaded.
I didn't even know what I was saying anymore. I had really lost my mind hadn't I? I wasn't sure, but this all felt so wrong. It felt like something was missing, or broken, or perhaps both. Was it me? Was I broken, but how, when? There was no way to know for sure, but I only had one way to find out. I felt my eyes rove back over towards the scroll I had left on the bed.
"Victor." Why did that name feel so familiar on your lips? I didn't want to think about it. I just needed to get him over here, so I forced my body to move toward the scroll. Once again the moment I touched the scroll it came to life and unlocked for me without my input. I told myself it that it doesn't mean anything and pressed on. A moment later and I was in the contacts, there weren't many so it wasn't hard to find Victor's. However, much to my dismay, his contact wasn't listed under his actual name, but instead under dearest.
Swallowing hard, I took a second to gather myself. I couldn't afford to look weak right now. I couldn't let him know that this, whatever it is, was getting to me. Once I had my breathing under control and my game face in place, I finally hit the call button.
The scroll rang once, twice, three times, and then it was finally answered. "Hello, dear?" The man on the other side of the scroll greeted. He was the same man from the photos, he was Victor I was sure of it. I noticed that he seemed distracted and wasn't looking directly at the scroll. "Is something wrong, unusual for you to call me at the office?" I couldn't think of anything to say and my silence finally seemed to garner his attention. "Cindy?" He asked as he glanced down towards the screen.
"Try again." I replied.
Victor looked confused for a moment, but he must have seen something in your expression. Something that told him the truth and his eyes widened before narrowing into slits. "Cinder?"
I showed him my most intimidating smile. "Greetings Victor, you have some explaining to do."
Victor lets out a half hearted laugh. "Yeah, I suppose I do." Then he reaches over to something out of frame, I can only assume it's some sort of intercom since he begins to speak into it. "Hey Sue could you cancel the rest of my appointments for the day? It seems a family emergency just popped up and I need to step out."
"No problem Doctor, I will let them all know. I hope it's not anything serious." A staticky female voice replied.
"Nothing we can't handle, once you've done that go ahead and take the rest of the day off." Victor went on. The staticky female voice gave an acknowledgement before cutting out. Then Victor returned his focus to me. "Stay put okay, I will be there in a few minutes and we can sort this all out."
"Best make haste, that is of course unless you're okay arriving to find your home burnt to the ground!" I threaten while creating a spark in one hand to push the point home.
"There will be no need. Just wait for me okay, I will be there." I noted that he looked pained when he said those words. I had to wonder why, but ultimately it didn't matter. I would be getting my answers soon, even if I had to force them out of him. "Alright I'm leaving the office now, I will be there soon!" He said as he ended the call.
Now once again alone with only my thoughts I didn't know what else to do, so I waited. I just sat there poking and prodding at my face in the mirror trying in vain to dispel whatever illusion had taken hold of it. All the while the person on the other side seemed to mock me for my efforts.
Never before had I felt so frustrated with my own reflection, no not my reflection, but that woman's where mine should be. "Who are you?" Again I felt these words slip from my mouth, but at this point they felt hollow. It looked like me, it talked like me, but it wasn't, it couldn't be. This had to all just be some sort of bad dream.
I heard him entering before I saw him. The jingle of his keys gave his presence away. It was clear by the way he frantically fumbled with the lock that he was both nervous and unconcerned with stealth. Good, if he was nervous than that meant that I still had the advantage here. Not that it was even in doubt, but it's best never to underestimate a potential enemy.
I found myself stiff when the door finally clicked, signifying that the locking mechanism had been disengaged and I watched with baited breath as it slowly slid open. A moment later the man I saw from Cindy's scroll, the one I know to be Victor, crept in. Upon entering Victor's eyes instantly began to scan his surroundings and when he saw nothing, he open his mouth to speak. "Cinder, I'm here!"
I made note that Victor sounded like he was on edge, like he was expecting something to leap from the shadows and take his head off at any moment. Though, I suppose he was right to be worried. With that thought I felt a smile crawl its way onto my lips, but I had to squash it quickly. That wasn't the look I wanted to go for here.
"Cinder, where are you!? Are you in our room!?" Victor called out again as he began to push deeper into the dwelling.
"I'm right here." I declare as I reveal myself from behind the still open door. The man spun around to stare at me with his eyes as wide as saucers. Once he could see me, I made a show of closing the door and relocking it before turning back to meet his frightened gaze.
"You shouldn't leave the front door open like that my dear. Who knows what kind of degenerates might see it as an opportunity." I deadpanned, and now was the right time to show him a smile. Nailed it, that should have him shaking in his boots. Or at least I thought it would.
Rather than look panicked, Victor almost seemed to relax once he saw me. His expression was mostly neutral now, but there was a small hint of relief in his eyes. It was almost like he was happy to see me. That thought was deeply unnerved me for some reason. "Good, you're still here." He said as he let out a long sigh.
"Is there a reason I wouldn't be here?" I asked while raising an eyebrow for effect. "I'm the one who called you after all." Not like there was anywhere I could have gone anyway. I'd taken a look outside after our little chat and I couldn't recognize anything in this town at all. The only thing I could say with certainty was that this wasn't Vale and it was far too warm to be Atlas.
"I suppose that's true." Victor agreed. "I suppose I was just expecting the worst after what happened last time. It's a good thing Cindy thought ahead, probably saved us all a lot of grief."
"Pardon?" I asked. Was that supposed to make sense?
"Oh, right, sorry." Victor apologized, apparently sensing my confusion and realizing his mistake. "I guess you still need to be brought up to speed?" I didn't bother responding but instead crossed my arms and leveled an impatient glare on him. "Well where should I start, introductions perhaps? I'm Dr. Victor L Cross." I felt my glare intensifying and he must have as well since he quickly went on. "But I guess you knew that already?"
"It is not wise to keep me waiting Victor." I warned.
Victor actually lets out a light chuckle in response to my warning. "Oh, I know. Trust me I do. I just, think we might want to have this conversation elsewhere. We could go back to our room perhaps? Or the kitchen, I could brew us up something to drink?" He suggested.
My eyes narrowed. What is he playing at here? "Why? Give me one good reason why we cannot discuss this here and now."
"Ah well it's just that this news might be a bit of a shock for you. I know you didn't take it too well before, so I just thought it'd be best for you to sit down before we got into it." Victor explained.
"No, here will be fine." I reply in a stern tone.
Victor still looked reluctant. "Are you sure? I really think you should sit down, perhaps have some tea? It always helps calm your nerves."
How did he know that? Whatever, it doesn't matter right now. Having enough of this nonsense I stepped into Victor's guard causing the man to gasp as I delicately ran my fingers up along his chest before grabbing the collar of his shirt and slamming him back into a nearby wall pinning him to it. When I did this I saw a flash of energy reverberate from his body. He has aura, good to know. "Enough of you're stalling! If you don't tell me what's going on right this instant," I snarled while allowing my hands to heat up just enough to singe Victor's collar without setting it ablaze. "Well let's just say you may not like the consequences."
"I see you haven't changed since the last time I saw you, Cinder." Victor deadpanned, not seeming very bothered by my intimidation. We will see how long his bravado lasts.
If Victor really wants to die so badly, it was fine by me. I was in no mood for this foolishness so I cranked up the heat a few more notches allowing the fabric of Victor's shirt to start sizzling. "Listen Victor, I don't who you are, but you seem to know who I am. Care to tell me how? Also exactly who Cindy is, and why I look like her?"
Victor hums in thought before replying. "Well that's simple I suppose. You're Cindy or rather there is no Cindy. She is just a facade of your own design. You're her, she is you, and that is why you look the same. Also I am her husband and by the way that makes me your husband as well, so of course I know these things." He explained.
"You must be joking?" I asked incredulously.
"Afraid not, I know you're not very fond of jokes." Victor replied.
"Then why don't I recall any of this!?" I screamed at him. I didn't even mean to, but my frustration was starting to outweigh my patience.
Luckily Victor seemed to get the point. "Ah yes we, by we I mean Cindy and I, have been trying to figure that out for awhile. Right now my theory is that it's a side affect of my semblance." He explained.
Okay so he has a semblance, is he being vague intentionally? "What do you mean?! What is your semblance?!" I demanded.
"My semblance is complicated, but I suppose the simplest term for it would be telepathy." He paused for a moment, I assume to gauge my reaction, and when all I did in response was raised an eyebrow he took a breath and continued. "I can read the thoughts and feelings of those around me. Also when I'm in close proximity to other people, I can even see and interact with their memories." Wait he can do what!? I couldn't have heard that right, could I? Does that mean he has been able to hear my thoughts this whole time!? "Yes I have, sorry about that."
Startled I felt my hand rip itself free from Victor's collar like I had been the one burned and before I even realized I was moving, I had put several steps between us. Victor apologized again and offered his gratitude for releasing him before he began to adjust himself, patting down his collar and brushing off the cinders that lingered there.
Victor didn't seem at all concerned with the fact that I had been considering immolating him. That meant one of two things. Either he didn't think I would actually do it, which would be quite foolish. Or he simply believed I wouldn't succeed, which was even more foolish. However, if the latter were true it would mean that this man was more dangerous than he seemed. I will need to be on guard. "You said my memory loss was caused by this semblance of yours. What did you do to me?"
Victor hummed in thought for a moment as if trying to think of the right way to explain. "You know, I've always found the mind to be an interesting thing. Especially the way it handles memory storage. You see when you experience something it causes the neurons in your brain to create an electrical signal. Everything you experience has its own unique signal pattern and whenever you experience something similar, it causes the neurons in your brain to recreate that signal."
"I don't recall asking for a lecture doctor. I asked what you did to me!" I growled.
"I'm getting to that, this is important." Victor declared. "Now where was I? Oh right memory signals. You see when you experience something a lot the mind will ingrain the signal related to those experiences into your long term memory. However, if the neurons remain unused for too long they will go into a sort of dormant state, not gone but lost to your conscious mind."
"Is this going somewhere Victor? I don't see how any of this is important." I cut in.
"Yes and you would if you could just let me finish." Victor retorted defiantly, but when he met my glare his defiance quickly evaporated and he suddenly had to take a moment to clear his throat. "Anyway, this isn't the only way a memory can become dormant. If for example one memory was too dramatic and/or painful for the conscious mind to handle, the mind may take drastic measures to protect itself. One such measure would be forcefully suppressing the signal that triggers the memory, effectively blocking it from your conscious mind. These are what we commonly call repressed memories."
Does he really think I don't know what he is doing? I wasn't going to take his stalling any longer and I opened my mouth to say as much, but Victor beat me to it. "I'm not stalling Cinder and yes I know you know what repressed memories are. You're quite well read and I know you have a few of your own as well. I am only mentioning all of this to make sure we're on the same page. Context is always the key with these sorts of things."
"Fine just get on with it!" I hissed.
"Thank you, now for the part you have been so patiently waiting for," Was that sarcasm just now? "A bit sorry, I get a little catty when I don't get to finish my morning coffee. Still time to brew some up though if you're interested? No? Well anyway, as I mentioned earlier my semblance can interact with memories."
"So you did alter my memory!" I snapped. "What did you put in my head!?"
Victor rolled his eyes an act that gave me the urge to rip the offending orbs them from his skull and shove them down his throat. I wouldn't of course. Such an act of vulgarity was beneath me. I would usually leave an underling to handle something like that, but since I seemed to be lacking in that department at the moment and needed to do something to quell my rage I would just have to settle for burning him alive.
Likely realizing my intention Victor quickly spoke up again. "I can't implant fake memories, if that is what you're worried about. It just doesn't work that way." I met his gaze to look for any deceit. I saw nothing that struck me as odd right away. "You see I can only move around what's already there. For example I could shift the signals around between neurons to bring certain memories to the forefront while blocking others. In this case I had simply shut down all the neurons that created older signals. So all the memories you had made before we met were blocked." Victor explained.
"So you erased my memories?" I hissed.
"Not erased, just blocked them." Victor corrected.
"Then why are they back now and why can't I recall anything that's happened to me since!?" I questioned.
"It's like I said, it's not intentional it's just a side effect. My semblance doesn't seem to last forever. So when it wears off, your old memories return to their original neurons and force the new ones to take a back seat, well at least until your mind has time to catch up and reorganize itself." Victor explained.
Well that explains the how, but there was still one big question mark. "Why did you do this?"
"At first?" Victor inquired. When I only growled at him he went on. "At first it was out of curiosity."
"Come again?" I asked.
"You see I was a huntsman once. Well rather a specialist working for the Atlas Military and I was also one of the first to respond to that little scene you caused in Vale during the Vytal Festival."
"Vytal Festival? What scene are you referring to?" I asked, I didn't recall doing anything to draw attention to myself, at least not yet.
"Oh, right. You must not have gotten that part back yet. I am referring to your plan to turn Vale into a warzone so you could use the chaos to claim the maiden's power and destroy Beacon. It worked by the way, well at least for the most part, but I guess you didn't account for the silver eyed girl's power." Victor went on.
Silver eyed girl? Wait, that sounds familiar, but I couldn't quite place it, and thinking about it was giving me a migraine. It wasn't important right now anyway. "Wait, so you're saying I already-"
"Destroyed Beacon, killed Ozpin, and claimed the maiden's power? Yes, kind of, and yes. Congregations are in order I suppose." Victor cut in before I could finish. His tone was clearly sarcastic, but I still couldn't sense any deceit in what he was saying.
"Okay, then why am I here? Where do you come in and why have you been toying with my memories?" I inquired, making it clear that his continued existence depended on how he answered.
"It was like I was saying earlier. I was one of the first responders at Beacon during the fall. I was also the one who found and pulled you out of the rubble. I didn't even know who you were at the time, but you clearly needed immediate medical attention, so I moved you to my personal tent for treatment. After I patched you up you started slipping in and out of consciousness, not aware enough to move around or react, but enough for me to get a glimpse into that head of yours. Once I found out the truth about who you were, it gave me an idea." Victor said before pausing and taking on an almost nostalgic look.
That look irked me so I took a step forward and drove my knee into his chest hard, causing him to kneel over and gasp. "What kind of idea! Answer me now or so help me-"
"Cindy please, you need to calm down." Victor pleaded.
"Don't call me that, that is not my name!" I roared.
"Oh, right sorry. Though in my defense, I wasn't the one who chose that name. I was actually against it at first since it was so similar." Victor retorted.
"I don't care where the name came from! You will answer the questions that I asked this instant!" I shouted as I pulled back on of my hands and allowing a flame to spring to life in my palm.
"Sorry."
"Stop apologizing and answer me! This will be your last warning!" I seethed.
Victor coughed. "Okay, so you want to know why I did all this. I did it because I had to know."
"Know what? What did you have to know?!"
"I had to know if I could change you." Victor deadpanned.
In that moment I felt a new flash of rage erupt within me and it was all I could do to prevent my hands from ripping this man apart. "You wanted to know if you could change me? Change me how?" I asked.
"Isn't that oblivious? I wanted to make you a better person." Victor replied. "I wanted to see if even the worst person could become an upstanding member of society if they were just given the chance."
"You wanted to reform me?" I said through a strained laugh. Is his guy for real? He can't seriously think he could pull that off does he?
"That's right." Victor nodded. "I have always had an interest in psychology you see. That is kind of why I joined the military in the first place. Well partly to help pay for school, but more because of the fact that there was no shortage of traumatized soldiers who I could practice my craft with. Though, I never had the chance to work with someone who was truly criminally insane before. So when you, one of the worst criminal master minds the world had ever known fell right into my lap, well I couldn't just let that chance slip by me now could I?"
I've heard enough of this madman's ramblings. "You, you made me into your lab rat!" Nobody toys with me. Nobody can use me and live to tell the tale. "I hope you've said your prayers because I'm ending this little game of yours once and for all!" The room was now completely illumined solely by the flames I had conjured around me.
Victor made no move to escape me, instead only sighing in what seemed to be defeat. "Can I make one last request?" He asked.
Ah, is he finally going to plead for his life? I suppose I could hummer him. "Go ahead then, speak quickly and maybe I might consider it."
Victor gave a nod before speaking in a soft tone. "All I will ask is that you take care of our little Ember, she's innocent in all of this after all and I don't want her to be left all alone."
Something about what Victor just said struck a chord in me since I felt my body stall. Ember, who is that? Wait, those pictures on Cindy's scroll, there was another person in them. A little girl that looked just like… Cindy. "Victor."
"Yes?" Victor inquired.
"When you say our Ember, who are you referring to?" I asked, already knowing the answer but being mentally unprepared for it.
"Well I mean our daughter of course, though it seems like you can't remember her either huh? Don't worry, I'm sure it will come back to you soon enough." Victor replied.
"This Ember, is she the girl from those photos on Cindy's scroll?" I asked.
"That's the one, isn't she the most adorable thing?" Victor gushed.
That couldn't be, that girl had to around six to seven years old. It couldn't be mine, I mean Cindy's child. "I see, and this Ember is Cindy's-"
"Biological daughter? Yes she is." Victor cut in, likely reading my thoughts. "By the way that makes her your daughter too. Just so we're on the same page."
"You're lying." I said flatly.
"Cinder, I'm not-"
"You're lying!" I shouted. "I don't know what you have put in my head, but I won't let you trick me anymore!" I cried out as I pulled my fist back to strike. I saw real fear flash in Victor's eyes for the first time since we began our little interaction and right when I was about to ignite him I heard the sound of movement coming from down the hall. "What was that!?" I asked glancing towards the source.
At first I saw nothing and was about to write it off as my mind playing tricks on me, but then I saw a wooden door on the end of the hall begin to slowly creek open. I stiffened and when a small head with dark hair and sleepy amber eyes peek out from behind it, my fire died.
"Mommy, daddy?" The child called out in a small groggy voice.
"Oh good morning sweetie, did we wake you up?" Victor inquired completely ignoring the fact I still had the guy pressed up against the wall.
"I heard yelling, are you fighting?" The girl asked in slightly more fearful voice.
"No, no sweetie. Your mom and I are just playing a game. It's nothing to worry about. I am sorry for waking you though." Victor replied before directing his gaze back at me. "Isn't that right Cindy?"
"I umm," I stammered suddenly, feeling like a deer in the headlights. I looked down towards the girl who looked way too much like me, no like Cindy. Her bright amber orbs were staring at me expectantly now. I couldn't quite tell what she made of this situation, but she certainly seemed confused, though also a bit curious. "Yeah," I finally managed as I released my grip on Victor. "It's just a game."
"Oh, I guess mom was winning then." The girl declared, sounding relieved. Smart girl, maybe she really is mine. "Can I play?" Still a child though it seems.
"No, sorry sweetie, but it's still time for you to be in bed." Victor replied before he pushed past me and began to turn and lead the girl back towards what I assume to be her room.
"What, no fair! How come you get to play with mom and I can't!" The girl pouted.
"Mommy isn't feeling too well tonight sweetie, we were actually about to call it quits ourselves." Victor retorted.
That caused the small girl to pause and turn back towards me with a worried expression. "Mommy is sick?" Then before Victor could reply she broke away from him and ran up to wrap her small arms around my waist, which she was having some trouble with since she only came up to my hips. "Get better soon!"
For a moment I was at a loss for words. All I could do was look down at the entity clamping onto me dumbstruck. It wasn't until I heard Victor walking back towards us that I was snapped out of it. "Come along Ember, its bed time." Victor urged as he grabbed hold of the girl and pried her off of me.
"But mommy," The child began to complain.
"Will be fine," Victor completed. "She just needs a little rest, kind of like another girl I know."
After that, I watched as Victor led the girl back into her room and tucked her into her bed. Then after he wished her goodnight, he slipped back out of the room, slid the door shut behind him, and turned towards me. "So," He began. "How're we going to do this? You going to stick to the fire or should I go fetch a knife from the kitchen?"
It was odd that I couldn't tell if he was joking or not when he made that offer. It didn't matter though and he likely knew it already. "How old is she?" I asked in barely a whisper.
"Six, but she will be seven next month." He replied.
"Sev-seven!?" I asked suddenly shaken. Victor gave a nod and an apologetic look. He likely knew why I was so startled. "H-how long, how much time am I missing?" I asked.
"Starting at the fall of Beacon we've been together for nearly ten years." Victor replied.
"Ten years?" I asked more to myself than Victor. Since he made no attempt to reply he must have pick up on that as well. Quite the troublesome ability he has. "And I can't recall any of it, is there anything we can do to fix this?" I asked.
Victor gave a nod. "The memories are still in there, just misplaced. So they should come back on their own in time, though there is no tell how long that will take. Given my experience with those suffering from memory loss, it could take anywhere from a few days to a few years to make a full recovery. However, there is another option."
"That would be?" I asked.
"I could use my semblance again. Move the new memories back to the forefront, of course there is no tell if you will be able to retain your old ones." Victor explained.
I gave a nod. Then I saw Victor's eyes widened in surprise before I could even open my mouth to say the next line. "I don't care if I remember. Rather, if you can I think I would prefer if I didn't."
"Really? Just like that you're willing to give up your identity." Victor asked.
"If Cindy and I are truly one and the same, then there must be something we see in this lifestyle that keeps us here. However, Cinder Fall can't be trusted. I know what I am and I'm too far gone to live any other way, but Cindy is different. She is safer." I replied.
"You really are a good mother." Victor said. I sighed, knowing that he read my mind to see my true intentions again. "Well, if that's what you want then so be it, come on." He said reaching out to grasp my wrist and pull me along.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"To our room, this is quite an exhausting process for the both of us so we're going to need some sleep once we're done." Victor replied.
Before long we were back in Victor's and Cindy's, or rather my room. After that he motioned for me to sit down on the bed and he pulled up another chair so he could sit opposite me. "So what now, what do you want me to do?" I asked.
"Just look into my eyes." Victor replied softly. I did as he instructed and met his gaze. There was a slight shimmer in those orbs that made me feel uneasy.
"Victor I," I tried to speak, what I can't really recall.
"It's okay, I know." Victor cut in.
"I'm getting, dizzy." I said as I felt my head slump downward breaking eye contact.
"I know, it's okay, just look at me." Victor declared as he cupped my head in his hands and raised it back up to meet his gaze. I was really tired now. So much so, that I couldn't hold myself up and I collapsed onto Victor's chest. Then the last thing I head before darkness took me was Victor saying. "Goodbye Cinder, until we meet again." Then there was nothing.