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Cinder

Cinder couldn't tear her gaze away from the pensieve as it pulsed and grew, casting its pale glow across the entire castle like the moon. The giant swirling mass of silver ribbons seemed almost alive as it pulsed and churned above their heads, like a cloud growing bigger and bigger as it slowly became a storm.

And Cinder was willing to bet that this was going to be a really, really big storm.

In the dormitory windows, Cinder could start to make out the faces of students, daring to peek outside to see what was going on.

She nodded with satisfaction. Good. The more people who saw, the better.

Finally, when the pensieve seemed to take up the whole sky, the threads of silver pulsed and flickered, changing colour and taking shape, forming one clear image in the sky.

There was Levana. But she didn't look like Levana. Levana was beautiful. No, Levana was perfect. Not a single blemish would be found on her appearance. Her ivory skin was smooth and glowing. Her auburn hair was thick and shiny. Her lips were a gorgeous, shocking red.

But this Levana had none of those features.

This Levana was hideous.

Half of her face was disfigured and contorted with scar tissue, the skin forming blackened ridges and grooves. Her left eye was sealed shut, and most of her hair was gone, leaving only a few locks of thin, light-brown curls. The scarring continued down her neck and her left arm, and probably ran along her torso as well.

This Levana wasn't perfect. This Levana wasn't beautiful. This Levana was hideous, disfigured, and horrifying.

This Levana was real.

Thorne gave a low whistle as he stared up at the image. "Almost makes me wish that was still blind."

"At least you got to see her when she was beautiful." Iko muttered, "I had to look at this monstrosity every time she was without a veil."

Cinder couldn't help but agree with Iko. The real Levana was far from pleasant to look at. Which was why it was the perfect attack on her.

She glanced at the windows where she saw students looking. Some of them had left, but most had stayed to stare. And even from this distance, Cinder could read the expressions of pure disgust on their faces clear as day.

A smirk pulled across her lips. If this didn't bring down Levana, she didn't know what would.

The crackling air and a startled scream jolted Cinder out of her thoughts. She whirled around in time to see Scarlet's eyes roll back into her head as her body keeled over, tumbling down from the tower roof limp as a ragdoll. Cinder dashed forward, though she knew she'd never reach her in time. Wolf lashed out and grabbed a hold of her arm just before she could fall completely. His eyes were wide, almost wild with panic as he slowly started pulling her back up onto the roof.

Cinder allowed herself a sigh of relief.

Honestly, she should know better at this point.

A flash of blue light suddenly struck Wolf in the face. He cried out in pain and surprise as he stumbled back a few steps. But there wasn't enough roof for him to walk on, and before Cinder could shout a warning, his foot slipped from the edge of the tower, and he fell, accidentally pulling Scarlet down with him.

"Everyone, take cover in the passageway!" Cinder yelled. Her friends hurried to comply, glancing hopelessly at the spot where Scarlet and Wolf had been standing mere moments before. Cinder rushed to follow them, when a bolt of burning energy hit her square in the back. She opened her mouth to cry out in pain, but all that escaped her was a scream of terror as her legs suddenly collapsed. She rolled haphazardly toward the edge. She heard running and shouting. Were her friends trying to save her?

Gratefully at least that her hands were still working, Cinder struggled to grip the edge of the roof as she fell from the edge. Barely a second and her fingers were already slipping as her lower half dragged her down, nothing more than dead weight.

Someone's hand grasped her fingers as they finally slipped from the edge, but all it did was buy her a few extra moments of suspension in the air before she dropped like a stone, Kai's pale and terrified face above her.

But Cinder wasn't ready to die just yet.

She desperately fumbled in her pockets for her wand, acutely aware of how fast the ground was rushing up to meet her. Frantically pulling it out, she all but screamed the incantation: "Arresto Momento!"

She came to an abrupt, jarring halt. She hovered less than a foot above the ground for a few moments, before falling the short remaining way.

She huffed out a breath, exhausted by the ordeal, short though it was. Cinder pushed herself upward, silently cursing her legs for their continued refusal to cooperate. And immediately, a slender pale wooden rod was pointed directly at her face.

Cinder lifted her gaze, and found herself looking at a familiar face, contorted with fury and hatred. Pale, unblemished skin flickered to mangled scar tissue with every blink, curly shimmering auburn locks vanished into weak and struggling hairs. Even the hand that held the wand kept switching from perfection to horror.

"Hey Levana." Cinder said, forcing her voice to sound calm, "Did you like the show we put on?"

Levana bared her teeth. "I should have killed you the moment you walked into my school." She hissed.

"Oh please, like that would've made a difference. Someone was going to investigate eventually."

"You look so much like her." Levana continued, as if Cinder hadn't spoken. "At first I dismissed it as an unfortunate coincidence."

"I look so much like who?" Cinder asked, "What are you talking about?"

"That wand. That blasted wand should've burned in the fire. You should've burned in the fire!"

A tingle ran up her legs as they slowly came back to life and Cinder carefully shoved herself to her feet. "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about. I got this wand at the Common Market! And what fire? What are you going on about?"

"Don't pretend!" Levana snapped, moving forward a step. "I know who you are now. How you've managed to hide all these years is beyond me."

"How I've managed to-? What is wrong with you? I haven't been hiding from anything! I've just been living a normal life before I got sent to this school!"

Levana barked a laugh, a high, hysterical sound. "Don't play ignorant with me Selene! I know who you are! It's so obvious, how could I have not seen it before? You look so much like Channary, why, you're practically twins! And that wand… that wand was specifically made for you the day you were born. It won't work for anyone but you. Even those disgusting prosthetics-yes I know about those-are proof of who you are!"

"All I'm hearing is proof that you've gone right around the bend." Cinder shouted, "My name isn't Selene, it's Cinder! I've never heard of Selene! And how in the world are my prosthetics proof that-"

"That fire was supposed to destroy you, all of you, entirely. It was supposed to kill you. But I see that all it did was burn off your leg and hand, and now you have those hideous replacements."

"I suppose you'd be an expert on hideous." Cinder muttered.

Big mistake.

Levana screeched and multicoloured flames burst from the tip of her wand. Cinder yelped and dodged out of the way, holding her own wand out at the ready. The headmistress merely laughed at her. "You honestly think you can beat me, Selene?"
"Stop calling me Selene!" Cinder said through gritted teeth.

"What? Stop calling you by your name? Would you rather I call you Niece?"
"Wha-I'm not your niece!"

"Yes, you are." Levana insisted, "I should've seen it before. You are Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn, daughter of my sister, Channary. And this time, I'm going to make sure you burn."

A/N: Big showdown coming up! Stay tuned!

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