Then
She heard him call her name. Immediately she moved to her father's side and held his hand.
She devoted all her attention to him. She paid no mind to the woman he'd married or the two girls she brought with her: they were there only to see his body once he'd passed and lay claim to all that had been his while his body was still warm.
She didn't want to lose him. He was the only person -the only thing in the entire world- she loved.
His grip was so weak. His voice was so soft.
She pleaded with him to say her name again. She listened to his faint breaths for some sign he was still there…
She squeezed his hand again. The skin felt clammy and cold.
He was once so vibrant. Now his flame had gone out.
She still had a mother and two sisters, or at least so a piece of paper the old woman clung to legally proclaimed.
As far as she was concerned, she was alone in the world now.
Now
Argus was burning as Atlas turned its guns on what it perceived as disloyal citizens under its care. Qrow Branwen -the biggest threat to her- was left trapped in their holding cells, left to either watch powerless or turn Atlas against him too while he tried to protect his nieces and the other children in his charge.
Cinder left Adam and Neo to chase after the others. Adam's obsessive pursuit of Blake Belladonna gave them a much-needed ally and his preference to chase her on his own successfully split the large gathering of students as they closed ranks around their friend. That left Ruby vulnerable and allowed Neo to chase 'little red' with only two of her friends to help. Though the odds were still weighted against them, Cinder had every reason to believe by dividing her enemies into two groups her two allies might achieve unlikely victories.
And if they didn't... well, two dangerous loose ends would be dealt with and they might successfully damage Salem's enemy before they were defeated. Either way, there'd be some gain for Cinder.
And she had the real prize: the Relic of Knowledge.
Oscar reached towards her, pinned by the rubble -molten to slag by Cinder's flames- pleading with her to stop. "Don't give it to her. She's just using you- she'll get rid of you just like Leonardo!"
Cinder scoffed. "You have so much to learn, little boy… pity you won't get your chance to learn-"
Cinder drew back with her left arm. It was a shame to dispose of such a young life, but really, if he was foolish enough to oppose Salem there wouldn't be much difference whether he died now or after Salem completed her plan…
The shelling from Atlas' naval base struck nearby. While Cinder might've enjoyed the indulgence, she didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. She hadn't yet fully healed, and she could easily slip out of the city in the chaos she'd so gleefully unleashed… and disappear like so many others in the aftermath.
Cinder collected her prize and sent a message to Neo on her Scroll to rendezvous after she'd collected Ruby Rose's head. She didn't bother inviting Adam to join the escape.
If Neo succeeded Cinder would dispose of her while she was vulnerable. If Adam succeeded he wouldn't bother meeting up and would run off with his own prize in tow.
Cinder slid the lamp under her bulky robe and joined a group of fleeing civilians being ushered outside Argus and towards a safehouse. Cinder played the damsel in distress a few minutes -though her throat was a bit too hoarse for any screaming- before slipping out into the forests and snow and disappearing as suddenly as she'd arrived.
The Grimm would be drawn to the strife in Argus and the towering columns of smoke. They'd have no reason to pursue Cinder: she had nothing but positive emotions radiating off her.
After all: she'd won.
Then
Family didn't mean much when it was enforced by a slip of paper bearing her father's signature. Her "mother" and her "sisters" saw her as little more than a servant… any comforts, any tappings of luxury vanished along with her father. She was now tasked with attending to their needs and never voicing any of her own wishes.
Day in and day out her efforts were all for them, all for her… "family". She was given a meager allotment of food to keep going and a comfortable bed to sleep in -which was better than what many others knew and she tried to be grateful for- but it was hard for her to be appreciative when she saw her father's fortune disappear in the hands of unworthy inheritors who'd never loved him and only sought his riches and finery…
It had worked for them. Love may have given her a memory to cling to, but it did little to fill her belly or restore her strength after giving up all her time and effort for her 'family.' The wealth and finery they'd taken had made their lives so much better than hers'.
What good was love, then? Its fire had run out.
Now her father's fortune was being squandered and she'd been reduced to servitude for people who did not love her and would discard her if ever she failed in the tasks they'd given her… her 'mother' had made it very clear that she was only kept because she continued to obediently carry out her tasks, and not because she was welcome in their home.
It was their home now. Not hers'.
Her name was proof she was her father's child. But the piece of paper identifying this other woman as her father's wife robbed her of her claim.
Now she had love but nowhere to turn her thought. Now her 'mother' had power that would never filter its way down to another woman's child she did not want or need.
This was what she had to look forward to. This was what her life had become.
Her father loved the woman who now controlled his estate. She tried to do the same.
She tried to.
Now
Cinder kept checking her Scroll for Neo's reply. She kept peering out into the woods and snow -a few hundred meters from the cavern she'd taken shelter in- for some sign of Neo, Adam, or their enemies. No one arrived at the coordinates: the sleet remained unaltered.
She didn't know if Ruby was alive or dead, and would have to follow up. But she'd allow herself that after she delivered Salem her prize.
This strange, blue lamp. Apparently it could answer any question…tell the person asking its favor anything they wished to know.
If they would but speak its name.
Cinder glanced around. Salem was always watching, but she wasn't completely omniscient. If Cinder ever wanted to use the relics' power for herself and not let her master know…
She could resist the temptation and bring the lamp back. Salem would always suspect Cinder's motives, but not necessarily that she'd been disloyal.
But there were things Cinder wished to know, and she may never get another opportunity… certainly not one she could easily explain away.
If she would just speak her name.
It wasn't in Cinder's nature to be completely obedient.
She leaned close to the relic and whispered: "Jinn."
Then
It wasn't an easy thing to harm them. They deserved some receipt for the mistreatment they put her through, but she'd never intended to…
The blood was still on her hands. She had to run.
One might've been explained as unintentional. One might've been her grief and sorrow getting the better of her and driving an emotional frenzy.
Two was to prevent them from corroborating, telling any story they wished to in order to be rid of her and preserve their ill-gotten gains.
Three was to remove a loose end.
No longer an act of passion, but an act of calculation.
They were going to send her away. She'd have died unsupported.
Now she was fleeing anyway, albeit with more in-hand than she would've if they'd cast her out.
She told herself it was necessary to survive.
She told herself in burning their home it was to cover her tracks as best she could.
As the cinders of her father's house rained around her she told herself there was nothing left in there that mattered to her.
Her father was long gone, and with him her love and her name.
She wasn't that girl now. That girl died alongside her 'family.'
Disappearing in the fire just like everything else.
Now
"I can still answer one question in this era," Jinn affirmed.
One. It was far too risky. Even if Salem believed that Ruby Rose and her allies had used up all the questions themselves, Cinder would be offering to Salem a worthless trinket: one that wouldn't be of any use to her master until decades later. Cinder had hoped Salem's plan would be completed while she was still in the prime of youth and able to reap the rewards.
But then again, Salem's goal was simply to acquire all four. She knew where two of them were already. The third was still somewhere under Beacon with the Grimm digging for it.
Cinder could ask… and she knew how to lie, even to her master's practiced ear. She could know anything she wanted.
Even a way to surpass Salem and rule the world from the queen's throne herself, rather than at her right hand.
Or if there was some way to finally be free of the phantom pain still assailing her… if Ruby Rose was truly dead and Cinder could once more sleep through the night without thinking of her and the need for revenge…
Or if there was anything else that could possibly be different for her; any path but the one Salem had laid out for her.
Cinder knew what her destiny was. She just wished to reaffirm it.
"Jinn," Cinder began. "Will I get what I want?"
The blue genie cast her a coy smile. "You can't."
Cinder paused. "What?"
Jinn winked at her and descended back into the lamp.
"Wait!" Cinder shouted after, taking firm hold of the relic. "Give me specifics! Why can't I? What's stopping me?!"
The lamp was silent. It didn't even glow; it was dull metal Cinder repeatedly thrashed in her hands.
"What did you mean, Jinn?" Cinder demanded. "Tell me!"
She was… she'd always known…
No. Not always…
Then
Some of her father's fortune remained in his personal bank, but she could hardly lay claim to it: the authorities believed her dead. It was small comfort to think that she could inherit all his wealth if she was willing to step into the light again.
But she needed Lien. What she'd taken from her stepmother had sustained her so far, but it wasn't enough. She needed more than that to find a place to stay and put food in her belly longer than a few more nights.
This wasn't how things ended for her. She'd taken their lives so she could go on… she wasn't going to just die like her father had… that was the fate of those too weak to seize their chance to change things.
She'd survived when she was supposed to be cast into the wilderness to die. She was meant for greater things than this…
She'd never tried to be a thief. But she'd already learned to kill.
Her technique was sloppy. Her approach was obvious. But all they'd say was a woman with dark hair and amber eyes had robbed the riches of a wealthy dead man.
She'd live another day…
But there had to be more than this. There had to be some greater purpose than taking enough to survive.
She was alive and they were dead. That had to mean something.
That had to mean she was destined for more than they were.
Now
Cinder panicked at the thought. She'd wasted the relic's power just to have a simple reassurance… Salem would be furious. Even if Cinder managed to lie and bluff her way out of her master's wrath, all Cinder would have to show for her efforts was this trinket Salem couldn't yet make use of.
Salem had given her so much. Without Salem's guidance, Cinder would never acquire the powers of the other Maidens… never attain a level of magic close to Salem herself. She'd remain as she was, beyond the powers of her disciples but not the ascent Cinder knew awaited her.
She had a destiny waiting for her. She knew that she wasn't meant to meet some ignominious end like…
Like a different girl had.
That wasn't her.
She… she was going to…be powerful.
...wasn't she?
Cinder looked at the dull metal of the lamp. Jinn answered her question… but what had she meant?
That Cinder couldn't attain her destiny?
That she was going to die?
That none of her efforts had mattered?
Cinder tried again to ask. "Then what will I get, Jinn?"
The lamp had no answer.
"What happens now?" Cinder tried.
All she heard in reply was her own hastened breathing.
"Can I… am I supposed to…"
She racked her brain for answers. "..do I… defy my destiny? Is that what I have to do?"
The lamp had no answers. Not in this era.
What then was Cinder to do? If she couldn't attain what had been promised to her?
What -then- did she want if she couldn't have what she wanted now?
Then
She dragged herself slowly up from the red rocks. She was half-dead from her journey, but she'd finally made it… empty-handed, at the end of her rope, but still bold enough to try and find her answer.
She could barely stand. With what strength she had left she bashed her fists against the heavy wooden door of the keep.
She remembered her father telling her stories of this place… of a castle built long ago, with a lonely girl in a tower.
She heard other stories later on, of a witch living away from everyone else…
When the door opened, she tried not to be afraid. The pale-skinned woman looking back at her took in the half-dead girl at her front door. "And what do you want?"
Food and shelter were her most immediate priorities. But that wasn't what she'd come to ask of this mysterious woman.
More than anything, she just needed to know there was more ahead than a next meal and a quiet rest. She needed to know she was meant for more.
"I want…"
She had faced challenges that nearly ended her life. She needed to avoid any chance of that.
"I want to be strong."
She had killed many to trek this far. But she was still weak and vulnerable and worse, others could see that.
"I want to be feared."
She discarded her old life. She missed the prestige her name once brought.
More than that she missed having a degree of control over her choices, when her father indulged her… and she did not wish to ask anyone else for permission.
"I want to be powerful."
She took many long breaths as she let her message sink in. The witch paused a moment to think on her words.
She was the one taken aback when the witch asked: "What's your name?"
She'd discarded her name. She needed a new one.
She thought on when her father's house burned down. She'd let the world think she'd died then.
The cinders fell around her and the past disappeared in flame…
"Cinder."
Now
Cinder marched back towards the city of Argus. The fires were being suppressed by the cold fronts from the sea, and the fighting had died down.
Cinder found the green-eyed boy emerging from the wreckage Cinder had left him trapped beneath. She saw Ruby Rose and her friends returning with an unconscious Neo as their captive, but they hadn't yet noticed Cinder's presence. Blake Belladonna was with them, so it seemed Adam had failed too…
A few hours ago, Cinder had been victorious. She didn't feel that way now.
Oscar was stunned when Cinder handed him the lamp. But he quickly realized why she had…
"What did she tell you?" Oscar asked.
Cinder closed her remaining eye. It wasn't an easy thing to admit, and she didn't want him to peer into the window to her soul and see how unguarded her answer truly was. "That I was wrong."