So sorry this is so late! Coronavirus has been seriously screwing up my writing schedule.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Cinder

The thing that bothered Cinder most about Artemisia was how perfect it was. The glittering walls, elegant towers and shining bridges. The luxurious rooms and perfectly polished floors. Even the flora and fauna were tailored to perfection. Not a single blade of grass was un-cut, the fringing trees of the Black Woods were neatly ordered by type, a group of oaks here, a cluster of elms there. Winter seemed to be held at bay here, since the leaves were as green and the grass as fresh as when Cinder first arrived at the castle. The glittering surface of the lake was untouched by ice, even though Cinder could feel the cold biting at her skin even through her thick woollen coat. Not a ripple disturbed the perfect stillness of the water.

Everywhere you looked at Artemisia, you looked at perfection. And that's what bothered Cinder, because now she knew that that immaculate appearance was nothing more than a mask, a façade to hide the ugliness within. If you went deep enough into the Black Woods, you'd find trees that had never grown leaves. If you went down enough in the dungeons, you'd see the rusty shackles and bars. If you went far enough into the grounds, you'd come across the Biting Rocks, sentient pebbles that's preferred diet seemed to consist of human toes. And Cinder was positive that if she stuck a big enough stick in the lake, she'd discover some kind of monster. A sea serpent or something. Merlin knows she wouldn't be surprised at this point if there was a Loch Ness monster living in there. The school already housed werewolves and had mind-controllers as teachers. There was probably a basilisk lurking in the lowest floor of the dungeon.

"What're you doing?"

Cinder jumped with surprise and whirled around to stare at who had spoken. Kai took a step back and raised his hands in surrender. "Wow, someone's jumpy."

Cinder dropped her gaze. "I've had a lot on my mind."

Kai's gaze softened. "About the school's dog problem?"
Cinder snorted with amusement. "Yeah, among other things." Such as the fact that I'm a Lunar. You know, that kind of mind-controlling wizard that you utterly despise?

He chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, I think we're all pretty on edge over that. The centaurs weren't exactly subtle about what they would do to us if we fail."

"Being shot full of arrows definitely doesn't seem like a good way to go." Cinder agreed.

"What else is on your mind?" Kai asked her gently.

Her smile faded. She opened her mouth to reply, but something seemed to be wrong with her voice. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Cinder shook her head and opened her mouth again. This time, she managed to croak out one word. "Peony."

Kai turned pale. "Is she…"
"No, not yet. But it's been a month already. The record is, what, one and a half months? She's not going to survive for much longer."

Kai put his hand on her shoulder and tried for a smile. "Hey, you never know. The doctors might still come up with a cure."

Cinder couldn't bring herself to smile back. They both knew that was never going to happen.

"I've been worried about some stuff too." Kai admitted.

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Well that's a given. You're forcing the rest of us to study werewolves in our spare time. I saw Iko banging her head against a library table earlier."
"Not about the werewolves."
Cinder raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

Kai sighed and looked out over the lake. "I was worried that… I'd done something wrong."

"Done what wrong?" Cinder asked confusedly. Did he get an Exceeds Expectations instead of an Outstanding?

"You've been avoiding me lately. I thought that I must have done something wrong."

Cinder's eyes widened. She knew she'd been avoiding Kai, but she didn't know he thought it was because of him! She figured that maybe he'd be angry or just forget that she existed. Or just not want to be around her anymore since now he knew about her fake limbs.

"N-no, you haven't done anything wrong." She stammered.

"Then why have you been avoiding me?" He asked.

"I thought you wouldn't want to see me." Cinder admitted, somewhat guiltily.

Kai stared at her, copper eyes wide with disbelief. "Wha-why wouldn't I want to see you?"

"You do remember what happened when I came to visit you in Regolith right?"

Cinder could swear Kai's ears turned red as he replied, "Yeah, I remember."

She nodded. "Usually when people find out that I have a fake hand and leg, they want nothing to do with me. Or, more often, they just dedicate a good chunk of their time insulting me."

Kai frowned. "Wait, you were talking about how you fainted?"

"Yeah. What did you think I was talking about?"

Kai was definitely blushing now. "Nothing."

Cinder narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, and he hastily cleared his throat. "So, you were saying that people don't like how you have some magical body parts?"

"Yep, that's generally what happens."

"But that doesn't make sense. What does it matter that you have a leg that isn't made of skin and bone? What are you supposed to do, hop from place to place?"

Cinder tilted her head. "I don't think most people care. It's sort-of like the prejudice against werewolves. They can't help transforming into bloodthirsty monsters every month, but a lot of people blame them for it anyway."

"I guess I can see what you mean…" Kai said haltingly, "but not everyone is against werewolves. Just look at Scarlet! She's still fine being friends with Wolf, even knowing what he is. Haven't you met anyone who didn't care that you had prosthetics?"

"Well, Iko wasn't disgusted." Cinder admitted, amusement tinging her voice at the memory. "But she was the first one. Everyone else immediately decided that I wasn't human, and therefore didn't deserve their respect."

Kai snorted. "Well that's stupid. You can't help being the way you are!"

"Neither can muggle-borns." Cinder reminded him, "Or squibs, or werewolves, or vampires. But the world hates them anyway. Just because something's stupid doesn't mean it doesn't happen."

"But it shouldn't." Kai insisted, "There's gotta be some kind of law about this…"

"Well, there have been laws supporting it. Remember the anti-werewolf legislation?"

"That was abolished years ago though."

"Still, it happened. And something like that will probably happen again."

Kai sighed. "This is… really depressing."

Cinder shrugged. "It's humanity."

"That's even more depressing. Can we talk about something else?"

"Didn't you grow up on politics?" Cinder asked, ignoring Kai's request, "Surely you must already know all this."

"Well, yeah, everyone knows it, but the idea that some people take these beliefs and prejudices to the next level just because it's their nature as humans is seriously disheartening. I can feel myself losing faith in humanity even now."
"Wait, you still have faith in humanity? I lost it years ago when my stepsister Pearl threw a tantrum because she couldn't decide on a dress to buy."

Kai chuckled at this. "You're right, that is something that would make you lose faith in humanity."

A/N: Funny how you plan to write a sweet, fluffy Kaider chapter and it ends up being about racism. I don't blame you if this made you sad. After all, it even made me sad, and I'm the author! But I promise, next time I plan on writing Kaider, I will write Kaider!

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