Revamped!

[I finished the next arc today so might as well get publishing on this one.] [2020: Wow, I wrote arcs fast back then. Now it takes me weeks to write a chapter.]

Burned to Cinder: Part Three

In the middle of the night, Levana wakes up to the sound of her phone ringing. She picks up her phone from the nightstand and doesn't look to see who it is. When the other end starts talking, Levana sits up when she realizes she doesn't recognize the voice at all.

"Wait…" Levana says, running a hand through her hair. "Who's this?"

Unknown: This is Joseph Todd, Channary's lawyer.

"Why the stars are you calling at this hour?"

Unknown: Your sister has died.

-o-

Those words echo through Levana's mind and she wouldn't believe it unless she saw it to be true with her eyes so she got out of bed, dressed up, and headed straight for the morgue. It was too good to be true without proof.

Levana enters the eerie hospital in the middle of the night, looking radiant in her crisp white button-down and dark office pants. She's always been able to make her work clothes look fashionable instead of something she was forced to wear to the office. She dressed for this occasion as a stylish woman wrapped in refined mystery, even at this ungodly hour of the day.

Levana enters the hospital room she was directed to and sees Channary's lawyer, Joseph Todd, standing by a body that lies in the table while covered with a white sheet. Levana heads over and excitedly pulls back the sheet just over the face and sees exactly what she wanted to: Channary's face. Her sister is dead and she looks at the corpse smiling triumphantly. She thrived that Channary suffered from illness before dying instead of biting the dust instantly. At least she felt pain and knew she would die sooner than she hoped for.

Joseph shuffles over and is silent to Levana's overt joy. "I'm only saying this as a formality: I'm sorry for your loss."

"Actually, this is a blessing," Levana replies.

"I can tell. You two hated each other, right?"

"Despised. Complete and utter revulsion. This is the best news I've heard all day. I'm sure Luna will be as thrilled as I am if not more."

"I understand that you two may not have gotten along but she was still your sister."

Levana scoffs. "Please. Channary shouldn't have been a part of the presidential race let alone the human race. I guess that when you're part urchin, you eventually get summoned back to the sea."

Joseph nods. "To follow protocol, Miss. Blackburn, I must read you Channary's final will and testament."

"Go on but I don't care for my sister's dying words. Tell me the main gist of it and what I'm getting, if she bothered to gift wrap anything for me."

"Well," Joseph starts as he starts flipping through the will. "She has named you as the executor of the will and put aside some money for ongoing fees such as myself, her house staff, personal team, etc."

"Understandable. Now, fast-forward a bit."

Joseph nods as he continues flipping through the will. "You get everything else."

Levana stares in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"It says here, 'All remaining cash and assets in the Blackburn dynasty and my personal accounts, including my remaining presidential salary, my estate, stocks, bonds, and jewels, I bequeath to my beloved daughter, Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn.'"

"That's typical but not me. She pushed Selene out so why not give everything to her but the baby needs a guardian for her to inherit everything."

"I was just getting to how the two are connected." He clears his throat. "'Now, the most important of them all, as for my beautiful daughter, Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn, I grant her full guardianship and custody to my sister and her aunt, Levana Jannali Blackburn.'"

Levana is speechless. She didn't expect or want to have Selene as her burden. She just got released from Channary after being busy in her life and now she's still her prisoner in the form of a guardian. She remembers Channary saying that she only wants her blood to watch over her baby so now it all makes sense. The only thing gift-wrapped about Selene was if she was swaddled in a blanket and wearing a headband with a bow on it.

"Luna will explode," Levana states. "Considering Channary's reputation, they might come after Selene as revenge. We could publish a story saying that Selene was given to her biological father."

"Who's the father?" Joseph asks.

Levana shrugs. "Nobody knows so it's perfect. They could spend all the time in the world investigating and getting nowhere."

"You're changing this baby's life. You should change her name as well for her good. As a part of my duties for Channary, I will handle the paperwork."

Levana nods, agreeing with him. "I'll change the first name. I'll play Selene off as my own until the chaos dies. After that, nobody will care, trust me. I think we'll need a name so stupidly bizarre that nobody will question but analyze it."

"While you think of a name, would you like for your sister to be buried, placed in a mausoleum or cremated?"

Levana stares at Channary's corpse as she thinks of a new name for her niece. She tries to think of something associative to Channary and all she can think of is her deadly smoking. Levana also remembers seeing Selene constantly playing in the dirt or the fireplaces, and how Channary called Selene her little -

"Cinder…" Levana mutters.

"I'm sorry?" The lawyer questions.

"Burn her."

Rising, Levana leans forward and kisses her sister's cold cheek before walking straight out of the morgue to get the child. Channary could be burned to cinder without an audience.

-o-

A few days after, as Levana predicted, the news broke about President Blackburn's sudden death led to an uproar throughout Luna. People were wanting a new reformist government now that the dictator was out. Channary's Cabinet was left to choose an interim president until they could figure out what to do now. Levana fled, packing everything she needed before she let the news slip, cutting all ties she had with the Blackburn administration now that she had to hide a baby and not want to be held accountable for her sister's mess.

Often, Levana would hide baby Selene - now Cinder - in her jacket to create that illusion that she was pregnant so that when Cinder would be forced to be in public as she grows up, the stories of her being Levana's own child would fill the media. Like today, Levana hides baby Cinder in her black oversized trench coat that she wears with a matching veil over her face for her sister's funeral. Those in attendance were members of her Cabinet, Luna's top military, her house staff, and some of her supporters and donators.

There wasn't much of a funeral since they were just listening to a man talk and there was only an urn and some photos of Channary to look at. The room had an overwhelming scent of flowers and Cinder slept on Levana's chest the whole time which made her happy. Levana could've left Selene at home with a sitter but like her sister, who could she trust? Especially now that Channary was dead and Selene was supposed to be somewhere else.

Levana hears people behind her sniffling and yet she was the only one present who was smiling. She didn't see this as a sad time but as one to rejoice over. Not only was Channary dead, but Selene Blackburn and the Blackburns dynasty were burned with only fading smoke trails remaining.

Once the ceremony ends and people start approaching the urn to pay their respects, Levana starts walking the other way, putting her hands over Cinder on the outside of her jacket. She heads over to her car and is about to enter through the door her driver has opened for her but stops when she hears a baby sound. She looks down to see if it was Cinder, opening her jacket a little only to see that she was still sleeping in there. Levana turns around and sees Evret coming her way with his baby girl, Winter, in his arms. Levana raises her veil and gives him a welcoming smile. Not only was she delighted to see him but she couldn't deny that Winter was adorable, especially with that little afro on her head.

"Levana, I'm sorry about your sister," Evret tells her. "I should've said something sooner."

"Thank you," Levana replies.

At the sound of Levana's voice, she feels Cinder move around from inside her jacket. Levana unbuttons her jacket a little more to reposition the baby. She's happy that Cinder didn't start crying during the funeral and attract attention. Evert grins as he notices his Winter peek interest towards her by extending a hand out towards her.

"I've heard the stories about her being elsewhere but that's Selene, right?" Evret questions although he already knows the answer.

"It is," Levana responds, "but she's now Cinder for security purposes. Channary made me her new guardian. What about it?"

"I remember your offer."

Levana perks up a little as she thinks back to the military gala and what she proposed to him that night. Her stomach flutters as she keeps her cool composure.

"Now that you have a baby and probably have no experience in parenting as do I, maybe we could help each other out so that we wouldn't have to do it on our own."

Levana slowly nods. "Go on…"

"I'm supposed to go back to work sometime soon and I can't handle Winter being raised by nannies. Seeing that you now have Selene - Cinder, I mean, maybe we could raise the two girls together. They could be stepsisters - or step-cousins, to be more accurate. It would also be beneficial to Cinder and make it look less suspicious to anyone who might be wondering."

"That implies that we'd have to be married."

Evret laughs a little as he readjusts Winter in his arms. "I guess it does."

-o-

As time passed, the fire caused by Channary's political downfall was slightly calmed and the Selene Blackburn conspiracies weren't as popular; also when Levana moved her and Cinder's belongings into Evret's house, and when Winter and Cinder just started walking.

Levana and Evret didn't have a by-the-book fairytale setting as a wedding. They went to the courthouse to exchange some hallmark vows, rings, and sign the legal papers that signify them as married. Winter got Blackburn attached to her last name but Cinder didn't since Levana knew that Channary would be against it since she disapproved of her pursuing Evret and Cinder was still her daughter after all. Evret didn't push for it since he knew Cinder was Channary's daughter.

Also present were Evret's friends who were the witnesses. There was Commander Garrison Clay who used to be a soldier like Evret but retired early to be the dean of Andromeda Academy. By his side was his wife, Clarissa, and their baby boy, Jacin, who was the same age as Cinder and Winter.

Levana didn't mind them. She admired and appreciated the Clays. They were a respectful and kind couple and, unlike Channary, Clarissa had a graceful approach to her beauty and very knowledgeable in global literature. They were both military wives with children the same age so that should be something to bond over if Evret were to go overseas and she was all alone at home.

Despite the simplicity and regality to the whole ceremony, Levana would say that she got her dream to come true.

[I tried my best to stick to the books as much as possible but I like the way I went with this.]