A/N. I just want to thank everyone who had read my fanfiction so far :) It makes me really happy to see that people are actually reading it and wanting to see more. Well, onto chapter 2!
_
Cinder's POV
"Cinder, you have to do better than this," Wolf growled.
Once again Cinder tried to keep off Wolf with her glamour, but failed miserably when Iko tackled her to the ground. Before she stormed the Emperor's palace she had made some improvements with her glamour, which especially payed off in the battle against Sybil. But now, she seemed to have lost a lot of her abilities. No one was sure why this had happened, but most likely Cinder had felt too much stress and anxiety these past few weeks that she just snapped after her encounter with the Thaumaturge. She growled in frustration.
"Let's try again." Cinder grumbled.
Cinder spread her feet shoulder width apart and bent her knees, balancing on the balls of her feet. She put her fists up and got ready to protect herself. Wolf nodded, signaling that he was ready. She threw all of her mind at him. She felt him shudder under her grip on his thoughts, trying to break free. His mind was like a fish caught between her hands, flailing around and slipping through her fingers until she clamps down hard enough to still it, to gain control. She felt his struggling diminish little by little until he was completely under her powers.
Now came the hard part. She had to make sure to keep Wolf from attacking her while fighting off Iko. She felt another burst of anger. She should be able to do this. She used to be able to do this. She should- She saw Iko lunge at her out of the corner of her eye and stopped her depressing train of thoughts. Cinder lifted her cyborg hand between them just as Iko was about to jump her. She used her metal fist to punch Iko in the jaw, hard enough to knock her onto the floor. Since Iko herself was made of metal Cinder knew she wouldn't get damaged too much. Then Cinder felt a spark of victory as she saw that she overpowered Iko. Cinder was strong enough, she could beat Levana, she could do this- Just then she remembered about Wolf. She spun around and noticed that she had lost her hold on his mind completely. She was about to launch her powers at him in a last effort to protect herself but she was too late. He was already on top of her, his hand wrapped around her neck, not tight enough to choke her, but tight enough to show her that she had lost.
Cinder pushed herself up and off the cold unforgiving floor into a sitting position once Wolf let her go. Though her muscles ached and her battered body protested she slowly stood up on wobbly legs.
"What are we going to do?!" She heard Wolf shout from behind her.
Cinder turned around and flinched at the anger in his voice. Wolf was standing on the opposite side of the room, facing the wall, his fingers threaded through his hair, threatening to pull it all out with one sharp tug.
"I-I just don't understand!" He continued. "You used to have so much more control over your glamour, I thought we stood a chance against Levana! But now you can't even fight off me and Iko!"
Then he flung his arms up in desperation.
"What are we going to do? How do you expect to overpower Levana like this?" Wolf demanded.
"I'm trying my best, Wolf!" Cinder yelled back. "And I'm sorry that Levana had more practice using glamour than me by, I don't know, like several decades."
"It doesn't matter." Wolf growled, visibly shaking from anger. Suddenly the fire in his eyes dimmed and his shoulders slumped. He continued, voice instantly devoid of emotion. "How will we get Scar-Scarlet back like this."
Whatever Cinder was about to shout back at Wolf suddenly got caught in her throat. She instantly felt remorse for screaming at Wolf, knowing what he was going through. Scarlet was his Alpha, his everything. If Kai was being held prisoner on that godforsaken rock, Cinder would be even moodier than Wolf.
"I-I'm sorry Wolf," She finally murmured. "I swear I'll try better. We'll get your Scarlet back. I promise."
"Whatever," Wolf grumbled as he strode out of the room.
It was as if Wolf didn't want to believe in getting Scarlet back. Perhaps he was just too scared of his heart breaking a second time if they didn't save her. She felt sorry for him. Cinder stood in place, contemplating everything from Wolf's anger to her own problems until the peaceful coating of silence settled around her was rudely broken.
"Hate to break it to you princess, but you're not helping anyone by standing in the middle of the room. Maybe you should get on improving your glamour so that we could actually save Wolf's special someone," said a way too familiar voice.
"Yes Thorne, i know, but you're definitely not helping right now. Please go away." Cinder grumbled. Thorne was leaning on the doorframe with his usual confidence, but Cress, who he seemed to follow around all the time these days, was standing beside him shyly. Even with their bright blue eyes and pale skin they were both so different.
Thorne smirked, "Ah. I see i need to step up my game if I want you to return my feelings."
Cinder rolled her eyes. "Whatever. How did you even know what I was doing? Last time I checked you were still as blind as a bat."
"Well," Thorne answered, adjusting his bandanna, "I have Cress here to be my guide and relate to me the juicy details of the outside world."
He patted Cress' head affectionately but she just glared at him and swatted his hand away.
"Okay. Now, please, leave me alone. I'm very tired and I need to think." Cinder said, stomping over to a large crate and plopping down on it.
"Ouch," Thorne replied, rubbing his chest dramatically. "That hurt."
"It wasn't even insulting," Cinder mumbled inaudibly, too tired to deal with Thorne.
Thorne sighed. "Alright, I guess I'll just go. Cress? Are you still here?" Thorne waved his arms around, almost comically, looking for his guide.
Cress took his arm and walked him out of the room, whispering about something with him.
Finally alone, Cinder closed her eyes and relaxed. However, she noticed that the space in her head previously taken up by Thorne's easy banter was now filling up dark thoughts of failure and imprisonment and death at Levana's hands. Cinder quickly stood up, needing the company of another person. She walked to Kai's room, hoping to talk about something insignificant to take her mind off of her worries.
When she found his door, she knocked quickly, waiting for him to answer. When he opened the door, his hair was adorably dishevelled and he smiled when he saw that it was her. Then his expression turned worried when he saw her sullen look.
"Cinder? Is something wrong?" He asked, ushering her inside.
"I'm just so tired of feeling useless. I don't know why my skills got so much worse, but if I don't improve, we're all going to die." Cinder answered solemnly, burying her face in her hands.
Kai gently put his hand on her back, rubbing in small circles of warmth. "Don't worry Cinder," He said, "I know you can do this. I believe in you."
She looked up at him and smiled gratefully. She tilted her chin up, and was just about to kiss him when there was a loud knock on the door. Kai's gaze lingered on her face for a moment longer, full of longing. But then he turned away with a sigh, getting up to answer the door.
He opened the door, and Cress came in, followed by Thorne as usual. When Cress saw Cinder, she froze for a second, her face turning apologetic.
"Sorry, I hope we're not interrupting." Cress murmured, "We just came in to talk to Kai about something."
"I guess that's my cue to leave," Cinder said, standing up with a sigh and one last glance at Kai.
She walked out, and went to her room, the fearful thoughts coming back to her now that she was alone once again. However, this time she couldn't seek out Kai's company, so she just sat on her bed, hoping the thoughts would go away on their own.
But they didn't.
They got worse.
Her incompetent glamour. Her crazy aunt invading earth. She was so weak. How can she expect to defeat Levana like this? Levana will see her and laugh. Wolf was right to be angry at her. Suddenly, her thoughts took an abrupt turn. So what if you beat Levana? All your friends will leave and live their own lives in peace. They'll be able to stay with their lovers. But Cinder? Oh no... She will be stuck on goddamn Luna as a Queen she never wanted to be with Kai living on a whole other planet. Why can't her life have a happy ending? Why her? That was it. Cinder needed to let out all of her pain, and quick. She shoved her hands onto a wall and screamed, letting all of her powers that had been suppressed all these days after the encounter with Sybil into the wall with all of her anger and heartache. After a bit she heard Kai shout her name and wrap his arms around her torso, pulling her away from the wall. She turned in his arms burying her face in his shirt, exhausted. She sobbed into him but no tears came. Her headache was immense. She let him hold her quaking body in his arms. Eventually she felt him gently pry her head off of his chest and tell her to look at the wall. Cinder frowned. The wall? What's wrong with it? Cinder opened her eyes and saw the wall. Or, at least what was left of it. A huge dark circle about four meters in diameter claimed most of the wall. Somehow, her bed had been flung against another wall without her noticing. A gentle breeze came out of the circle. Cinder furrowed her brow, concentrating on removing the strange opening. It was just her glamour, after all. But something felt off. No matter how much she tried she couldn't move it.
Cinder cursed. "I don't think I can do anything about this."
During her breakdown everyone on the Rampion somehow managed to make it here. They all had various expressions ranging from confused to plain terrified. Cress looked like she was about to say something when she was cut off by a loud thud. There, right in front of them, two people were splayed out on the ground below the portal. Then, almost comically, one by one four more people fell on top of them.
A/N. And that concludes chapter 2 :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter XD
