Chapter Fourteen: Ignite
Drip.
Drop.
Drip.
Drop.
Bright, menacing golden eyes fluttered open at the disturbance. The cloaked sorceress had let her musings be interrupted by rain? Maybe she really had become soft, even after all this time. Cinder lifted her hand to generate a flame, only for it to fizzle out immediately. With a sigh of agitation, the witch stepped closer to the graves as there was a large tree overhead. This way, she wouldn't get as wet. She sighed again as she pulled the hood off, looking down at the engraved names. It would be a lie for her to say she wasn't fond of the time she had back then. However, it was the past and this was her present
Cinder pondered her memories deeply, sifting through the days she spent as a student at Beacon, trying to remember how it was she became who she is. Something was tugging at her mind- no...her very soul. Some memories were quite lucid, while others were...like white noise. The Winter Formal. It was the night that everything changed. That night started the Grimm War. Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching, splashing softly in the mud and water. In a rush, she put her hood up. The stranger stopped a ways behind her.
"Oh! I didn't know there were other people that visited the ZERO memorial. Silly me I suppose, I'm not the only one who knew them", a silky, feminine voice said.
Cinder kept her head low,"Yes. I knew them as well"
"Well, it's good to know that they have another visitor. They were all so young. One of them especially was like my brother", the stranger soothed.
The sorceress kept her distance from the visitor, glancing over at her. As the rain began to let up, the visitor knelt down and placed a carnation, white as the purest snow at the base of each headstone. After a few moments, the figure stood, adorned in a gold-trimmed, dark viridian cloak with the hood up. As she turned to face Cinder, the fiery witch felt her gut tighten and her body quiver. It was the siren herself.
"You look shocked Ella. Oh wait...you go by Cinder now right?", Sirena mused.
Cinder's eyes narrowed,"What is this?"
The siren's glare was icy,"I knew that you would eventually come here. It was just a matter of time"
The queen of flames formed two charcoal glass blades, her gaze sharpened. In response, the siren drew her two rapiers and pointed the blades towards her.
"Listen I didn't come here for a fight", Sirena warned.
Cinder scoffed,"Neither did I. However, you can pose a potential problem and must be eliminated. I have enough obstacles in my way"
"Cinder I was sent only to observe, not fight you. You don't want to do this"
"On the contrary...if you have been watching me, then I have no other choice than to destroy you"
The fiery witch kept her distance from her opponent. Her golden orbs narrowed as she tried to understand what she meant. Who would send Sirena to observe her? How long has she been doing this for? Cinder kept her blades pointed to the ground, calm but cautious. Tension lingered in the air as the two fighters stared each other down in silence. It had been ages since they fought, although the reasons differed.
Cinder made the first move, forming her twin blades into a glass bow with a large, flaming arrow. As she fired it, Sirena nimbly dodged it. The agile siren ducked under the second arrow, thrusting her rapier towards Cinder, only to miss...barely. The Queen of Glass leaped into the air, glaring at her opponent as she shot bolts of flame at her...only to miss them all. As she landed, Sirena was snickering to herself a little.
"Is that seriously all you have? I expected better from you", the swordswoman sneered.
Cinder shook her head,"Cocky as I remember"
The brunette gasped as she saw the ground start to glow a bright gold. Cinder flicked her arm up, a torrent of fire rising from the spot Sirena was on. As the smoke cleared, Cinder's angered eyes scanned the area, searching for her foe. At the sound of boots squishing through mud, Cinder swiftly turned, dodging and parrying the siren's thrusts and swipes with her flames.
"Think you can best me?! I'm stronger than you! I always was!", Sirena seethed with fury, her swipes and thrusts getting faster and stronger, ending her attacks with a swift kick to Cinder's gut.
The witch was knocked back against a tree, the wind knocked out of her. Her eyes looked up and noticed Sirena standing over her, the blade of her rapier mere inches from the mistress' nose.
"You must never underestimate me", Cinder started, her eyes glowing like the midday sun.
"Oh? And why is that?", Sirena asked sarcastically.
Cinder cackled,"Because I will BURN YOU!"
Before Sirena could even gasp, the red-clad woman let loose a burst of flame, sending her once close friend to the ground. Cinder stood, strutting to her opponent as she formed a glass dagger in her hand, ready to finish the job.
Sirena held up her hand,"Wait! Just tell me one thing first"
"What is it?", the witch groaned.
"Why have you come back? Why now after everything that has happened?"
Cinder Fall's eyes suddenly widened at her question. After all this time, why was she back? The witch cautiously lowered her hand, the blade dissipating. As she stood up to walk away, Sirena stayed on the ground confused.
"Hey! You never answered me!", the siren barked.
With a heavy sigh, Cinder looked back,"To remember. I need to remember"
"...remember what?"
"Everything. Everything that happened. And once I remember, I will leave. I've come too far to let some far off memories get in the way of my goal"
Sirena stood as her opponent's words finish. Teal eyes met gold as the two women stood, the tension from mere moments ago already fading away into indiference. It wasn't long before the silence was broken.
Sirena took a breath,"Is that true? You want to remember everything?"
Cinder nodded,"I hate to ask this, but can you tell me anything about back then?"
"...no. I can't. However...there's one person who can. If you truly seek the past, then follow me"
With that, the siren walked past the witch, moving into the shadows cast by the moon's pale light. Without much hesitstion, Cinder followed at a safe distance. After all, remembering her past would help her pioneer her future. The walk was silent...painfully so. An hour had passed and the two had finally found their destination: a hospital.
Sirena glanced back to Cinder,"Put you're hood up. After all...you are a wanted criminal"
Without a sound, Cinder pulled the hood of her cloak up before following her inside. The building was noisy and full of people, both sick and healthy. As the two stepped into an elevator, Cinder huffed with irritation.
"How much longer? You better not be wasting my time", the crimson witch snapped.
Sirena rolled her eyes and pressed her scroll to the keypad,"Calm down. We're almost there"
Shortly after the keypad accepted the verification, the elevator began its descent. The girls were silent as the pod mechanism took them down past ground level. Must be a secret passage, the witch thought to herself. Moments after the elevator stopped, silver doors opened to a long hallway leading to a single set of double doors with a keypad on the wall adjacent to it. Cinder's eyebrows furrowed as the siren led her down the hallway. As Cinder followed, she could hear the steady clack from her heels echoing through the hall. The two stopped before the door, with Sirena glancing back at her follower.
"We are here. Understand...if you do anything to endanger the person inside, I will not hesitate to put you down", Sirena warned, a familiar venom in her tone.
Cinder nodded,"You will try"
The brunette turned towards the keypad and pressed a few of the keys on it. With a click, the double doors were unlocked. As the two women stepped inside, Sirena had Cinder step in front.
"Go ahead"
The witch cautiously went deeper into the barely lit room, seeing a singular hospital bed with machines on both sides, with various tubes feeding into the bed's occupant. It was a man. A man scarred on his chest and face, bandages on his torso and neck. Scorch marks from what Cinder could see. The man tilted his head in the direction of the witch and opened his eyes, causing Cinder to stop dead in her tracks. For the first time in almost ten years, Cinder Fall was stunned. For the first time in almost ten years, she was speechless. For the first time in almost ten years, her fierce gold met a worn silver.
"...it's been a long time...Ella..."
End of Volume One: Ignite
ALRIGHT! It's about time I finished this! Thanks to the support of my friends and fans I was finally able to finish Volume One. Thanks to all who have followed this story and want to continue to do so. For all who have given me OC's, they will be in the next Volume I promise! Thanks again for reading and I will see you all in Volume Two: Wildfire