I tried to write faster this time and didn't really edit it as well. Sorry.
But I hope you like it!
Why do these things happen to me? Cinder tried not to wince as the fire alarm blared in her ears. She hastily filtered the noise out of her auditory interface with a grimace and grabbed Ginger's hand. The girl stared up at her with wide, trusting eyes. Cinder bent down and cupped Ginger's face with her hands. "Darling, I want you to listen to me carefully, okay?" She nodded, her expression grave with the knowledge that this was not a carefully constructed game. "Ginger, you will hold my hand always. Do not, under any circumstance, let go. Ever. Never let go. If we get separated, go outside with the rest of the people and wait for me. Look for His Majesty or the two people you see here." Cinder indicated the old couple. "This is Sasha and Tosco. They will keep you safe until I can get you." Ginger started to suck on her thumb.
"You will come and get me?" she asked, around the digit in her mouth. Cinder's voice softened a touch.
"Always, darling. I promise. When have I ever broken a promise to you?" Ginger threw her short arms around her neck.
"Pinky promise!" she demanded. Cinder hooked her pinky around Ginger's.
"Promise." Cinder's tone was laced with determination. Ginger nodded again and released her stranglehold on Cinder's neck. She grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly. Cinder inclined her toward Tosco. "Thank you for your hospitality. Next time, I would hope not to get interrupted before I get to try your cuisine. I hope you get this sorted out quickly." Tosco and Sasha bowed.
"It was an honour to serve you, Your Majesty. We delight in your eventual return when things settle down." Cinder turned her gaze to Kai.
"Good luck," she said softly. Tosco and Sasha opened the sliding doors to the sound of panicked screams and bolting footsteps.
"What is this?" Tosco stared in disbelief at his ruined restaurant and swore. "Insurance better cover this," he muttered, and turned back to them. "I have to take care and secure some things in the kitchen. We have to make sure that area is not on fire. We will see you all outside." With that, Tosco and his wife waded into the stream of innocents pouring out of their respective rooms and soon disappeared into the throng. Smoke billowed out from a room farther down the hall as Cinder peered out. Flames licked the bamboo wood paneling and shattered a window with a explosion of flying glass shrapnel. Cinder flinched. Customers fleeing from the area brought up their arms as weak shields. Blood welled from where the sharp glass met their mark. They ran past, pushing and shoving to get to the exit.
"We will see you outside," Cinder told Kai, shoving a glimmer of guilt and worry deep down until she couldn't feel it anymore. She was good at that. Showing people only what she wanted them to see. Being queen gave her a great deal of practice. Kai gave her an unreadable expression. He was good at this game as well, it seemed.
"You better," was his brusque reply. Cinder swallowed back the lump in her throat as her eyes burned. She couldn't cry. She would never cry. And even if she could, not in front of him. How had they turned to this? There were too many walls that barred her path to him. And... and Kai deserved better. She didn't deserve him. Not her. A laughable cyborg queen would never have a future with the most eligible man in the Earthen Union. Cinder looked down and nodded. Kai slipped past her and darted into the crowd. He was quickly swallowed up. Ginger tugged at the sleeve of her coat.
"Our turn?" she asked, in a light tone. Cinder was almost convinced that it was just some elaborate game they were playing. Almost. Cinder gave her a strained smile.
"Our turn," she agreed. Cinder brought Ginger close and tugged her into the press of people storming for the front doors. Cinder immediately started coughing. Tendrils of smoke curled around her face, depriving her of oxygen. Cinder's eyes were dry, too dry. She blinked rapidly trying to regain some moisture to no avail. Cinder was shoved and pulled from every which direction which made it harder to keep upright with Ginger by her side. Ginger pulled on her sleeve.
"Aunty?"
"Not now, Ginger," Cinder ground out. The girl was unconcerned about the smoke, the lucky thing. Ginger was too short for the smoke to have any effect on her yet. A shadow flitted across her vision. Cinder snapped her head to the side to keep an eye on it. But it wasn't there anymore. Frowning, she squinted. What was that? Her grip on Ginger loosened. The crowd pressed around them making breathing difficult.
"Aunty!" Ginger whimpered, clutching her hands desperately. Her hands were slippery with sweat. Their hands lurched sloppily against each other.
"Ginger!" Cinder cried, her voice mingling and absorbed into the screams and wails of the other patrons. "Hold on!"
"Something is pulling on my leg," Ginger bleated, panicked. "I can't-" Her hands were wrenched out of Ginger's.
"Ginger!" Cinder screamed. "Ginger!" She disappeared, blocked by an impenetrable barrier of stampeding human flesh. She tried to turn back but was knocked forward by the crowd. Her glamour. Her glamour would help. Cinder concentrated. You will move, she thought. You will move away and let me pass. The roiling terror in the minds of the crowd forced Cinder to release her control. She panted, the smoke clouding her vision. Cinder's lungs burned, screaming at her to breathe. She took a breath, but there was no air.
There! Cinder caught a glimpse of her charge's bright red hair, going in the opposite direction. What was she doing?! With renewed conviction, she pressed her fingers into her temples. Move, she snarled at the frantic stir of bioelectricity in the clogged air, pulling on her glamour. Move! The crowd scattered and weaved around her, clearing a path. Cinder charged up the hallway, deeper into the smoke and flames. It was less crowded here. Actually, she was the only one still this far into the burning building. Embers danced and sizzled in the air in an explosion of sparks. Cinder ducked her head. Another flash of red entering a storage room, billowing with gray soot. Cinder coughed and took off her coat. Sweat blinded her eyes as she stuffed the ash streaked fabric against her mouth and nose. The metal door was ajar, but gleaming a dull red. Hot.
Cinder kicked it open. Smoke and dust ballooned up in a cloud obscuring Cinder's vision for a moment. "Aunty!" came a wail from within. Sobs echoed around the chamber. "Help! Aunty!" Cinder turned wildly.
"Where are you? Ginger!" Her eyes stung from the fumes. Cinder's voice was hoarse from yelling. Then, out of the smoke. Ginger. "Darling," Cinder whispered, too relieved to be angry. She held out a hand. "Let's go, come. We have to go." Ginger didn't take it. She stayed still, watching Cinder with feral eyes, a complete one-eighty from her former bawling. Wait, bawling?
Cinder paused thinking back. Ginger never cried, even when she was a baby. She never fussed. Not like Tobias. Even in a fire, she would've stayed calm. She wasn't one to just panic. So why did Cinder hear her cry? An orange light started blinking at the corner of her eye. Ginger started to smile, but it was more like a savage, angry baring of teeth, displaying them like an animal. Cinder backed away, hands out in a deploring gesture. "You-"
The door slammed shut, an automatic lock engaging. Cinder whipped her head back toward, what was her only means of escape. A low growl penetrated the air and Cinder faced forward again with growing horror. Ginger kneeled, her teeth sharpening. Fur erupted, protruding from her delicate skin. Cinder gaped, the orange light still flashing. Ginger emitted another snarl as she crouched. No not Ginger. BIOELECTRICAL MANIPULATION DETECTED. INITIALIZING RESISTANCE PROCEDURE IN 10...9...8...
Ginger peeled back her lips into a growl and surged forward, her nails tapering back into claws as she leaped. Cinder screamed and crouched, bracing for the impact and searing pain. 5...4...3... Ginger knocked into her. Inch deep lacerations sliced into flesh. Fire, blood, fire, pain. Blood welled, dark crimson soaking into soot streaked wool. Cinder panted, sweat and blood dripping onto the wood floor, soaking into the cracks. 2...1...RESISTANCE ESTABLISHED.
Ginger lifted her head and howled, an eerie sound, promptly cut off as she disappeared. The blood and gore seeped away, fading as if it were never there. Cinder exhaled and coughed, staggering to her feet. The adrenaline rush faded, leaving Cinder drained and lightheaded. It was impossible. No Lunar could use their gift on Earth save herself. She made sure of that. Then, why...? Cinder swayed. No... She had to stay awake. But she was just so tired... So tired... Cinder teetered and slumped to the floor. A shadow by the storage room window. A cloaked figure swept by, then paused his formless dark eyes staring right at her.
"Help," Cinder whispered, her words barely a breath. The shadow lifted his hand and brought it slicing across his throat. This was no accident. No. It was an execution. Cinder's eyes rolled back, and darkness took her away.
He smiled as the young queen fell unconscious. It was an absolute delight. And he had thought Queen Selene would be unreachable. When he found out that she was here, back in the Eastern Commonwealth...The man chuckled. She was brought straight into his hands by her idiotic friends. Speaking of hands... He gazed at his ruined burn scar riddled hands. Evidence of his former allegiance to the princess. Until she left him that is. He had never let his father convince him to get a skin graft. No, this would serve as a reminder, a reminder that he could trust no one. Let no one in. That even those who seem closest to you could destroy you. Throw you to the wolves. Like the little girl he had disguised as a wolf that served as his lure for the queen. Ginger...oh, and let's not forget about the love struck emperor. That was a new development. He smiled. He had promised himself he would take all she loved. And her end would be extra slow. She would watch her world burn around her as she screamed. This incident was child's play, a beginning to all the games her planned to orchestrate. The queen's friends would be first, of course. They had caused him so much trouble, then... why not have fun with the rest?
He slipped on his heatproof silicon gloves and unlocked the storage room door. The boy, now a man, patted down his gas mask, made sure it was on before he stepped into the smoke congested room. He stared down at his queen's limp body prostrate on the floor through plastic lenses. He imagined it was just like this when the nursery fire transpired nineteen years ago. Next time when all the elements were his to control, it would be much, much more spectacular. He scooped the queen up and carried her out into the hall. Half in half out of the room. The man shrugged. They would find her... probably. He sank into the shadows and disappeared.
Five minutes later, no one noticed as a man walked in the opposite direction of large crowd, the building collapsing in flames behind him. After all, he was Lunar.
Outside, Kai stuffed his hood on and scanned the crowd for Cinder, Ginger, Tosco, even Sasha. No one could recognize him. If they did...Kai shuddered to think of the consequences that would result. Torin would be horrified that his emperor was at the scene of an accident.
Now where was Tosco...
Relieved friends and family members greeted their loved ones in the crowd. The air was thick billowing smoke, but at least Kai could finally properly breathe. It was absolutely claustrophobic in there. The crowd pressed and shoved against him, until Kai felt as if he was in a human blender. Police sirens wailed in the air and ambulance hovers traveled to and from the hospital transporting victims of the fire.
Kai spotted Tosco and Sasha next to a law enforcement hover. The officer kept nodding as Tosco gestured angrily at his burning restaurant. He made his way toward them, ducking and dodging around the crowd.
"...fire just started from nowhere! It didn't originate from the kitchen. My wife and I checked the stoves and fryers before we came out. We suspect someone set it." The officer taking their statement tapped rapidly on his portscreen.
"Well, we'll have to see the reports coming back from the emergency hovers first before we speculate more on this unfortunate accident. More often than not, restaurant fires start in the kitchen. Does your restaurant use any other sources of energy? Like, perhaps, gas? Maybe one of the pipes combusted."
"We have no need for one," Sasha said frowning. "Almost all energy now comes from-"
"Yes, I realize that," the officer interrupted impatiently. "Do you have insurance or fire resistance system in place?"
Sasha nodded and handed the officer a remote controller. "We had installed a Air Suction System."
"Can you be sure all windows and openings are closed?" Tosco shook his head.
"No, but this should lessen the effects of the fire. And insurance should cover the rest of the damage." The officer nodded.
"I shall hand this over to the fire management crew," he said plucking the device out of Sasha's hand.
"NO!" Ginger lunged out of the mass of people and wrenched the remote from the officer, panting. "You can't!" She sounded as if she had run a mile at a sprint.
"Little girl," the officer began in a warning tone. Kai shot forward and grabbed Ginger. What was she doing? He restrained the six year old by hugging her around the waist. Carrot snarled at him.
"Don't try to stop me," she growled. Kai's grip loosened in surprise at her ferocity. She took advantage of his lax grip and struggled wildly. He took note of his mistake and clutched her all the more tighter.
"Ginger!" Kai snapped, his patience wavering. "Give the remote back to the officer. It will help." Ginger shook her head violently.
"Help who?" she hissed. "Who exactly will it help if Aunty dies?! Tell me!"
"Sir!" the officer barked. "Restrain your unruly child. This is an emergency, not a playground." Kai looked back at the officer helplessly through his hood.
"But she's not even my daug-"
"Get your ward to release the remote," the officer said in the dangerous tone. "Or we will forcibly remove it from her person."
"No. No, no, no!" Ginger yelled, hugging the device to her chest. "I won't let you take it!" Then Kai realized something.
"Wait, why would Cinder die? Why isn't she with you?" Kai shook Carrot. "You were together!" Ginger's eyes filled but they didn't spill. She didn't make a sound. Carrot pointed to the burning building.
"Aunty is still in there." she whispered. Kai's eyes widened. "She didn't come out. If you activate this," Carrot held up the device. "All the oxygen in the building will be sucked out. Aunty will die." The officer snorted.
"I'm sorry, darling. But your aunt is probably already-" Kai whirled on him with a glare. He shoved off his hood.
"Is that how you talk to children, officer? Perhaps you should reconsider your post." The threat lay unspoken, curdling the air. The officer dropped to the ground with a bow.
"Your Majesty!" he stammered.
"There is a woman in the building. You will not and cannot activate this. Do you understand?" Kai said, his voice iced with frost.
"Perfectly, Your Majesty."
"You will send someone to look for the woman. " Kai commanded ignoring the stares he was getting from the crowd. They had to get to her quickly.
"I'm afraid that's impossible, Your Majesty. The fire management crew can hardly contain the flames now-"
"You will send someone," Kai hissed. "Now. Do you know the importance of the woman still trapped in the building? She is Selene, the Queen of Luna. And unless you want the whole of Luna to declare war on the Earthen Union for killing their beloved queen, you better send someone, and quickly. If you cannot, I and the rest of the country will hold you responsible for this infraction. And you better hope your death will be quick and merciful." The officer cringed, his eyes bulging in shock.
"Immediately, Your Majesty," he whispered. The officer ran off. Kai stepped back, chest heaving from his outburst. No, he couldn't wait. He could imagine Cinder surrounded by flames, burning, burning. Her beautiful, expressive eyes, dull, unfocused. No! That can't happen. Too many things lay unspoken between them. He had to say his piece. Had to tell her... Kai's eyes stung. How could she have so much control over him? He'd only seen her again less than an hour ago and now... He couldn't lose her again so quickly. Not again. Kai let go of Ginger.
"Stay, okay?" he whispered. "I'll get Cinder." Carrot nodded clutching her stuffed rabbit protectively.
"Be safe," she whispered. Kai nodded and slipped his hood back on. He wished he had Cinder's talent for blending in as he walked purposely back toward the police tape. People whispered behind him.
"...the Emperor knows the Queen..."
"Are they even friends...?"
"...the queen is here..."
"Stars...they were probably having lunch together..."
Kai clenched his fists and ignored the murmuring. Nobody thought anything was wrong until he crossed the tape.
"Hey! You can't-" Kai started running, sprinting for the burning building in front of him. People shouted for him to stop, but he couldn't. Kai needed to get to her, to Cinder, before... before... He shook his head. Don't think about it. Cinder will be fine. She will be fine. But an ugly thing reared in his mind whispering the soft, terrible revelation he refused to face. What if he was too late?
How was it? And as always R & R!
-Silverleaf :)