Revamped!

[To that one guest who wrote several times that they like how I write Levana nicer than she is in the books, I thank you with my heart and soul.]

Burned to Cinder: Part Nine

Cinder sits on Winter's bed and they're silent. They have nothing to say to one another since anything they try to mention somehow returns to what happened at Orion's Beach and the guilt that Winter has for having that late person's life on her hands. It only adds to the blood she hallucinates more often than before. Although the two girls are as close as ever, there are still some things they can never talk about.

"Everyone is responsible, Winter," Cinder tries to tell her for possibly the hundredth time. "We all drank and had a bonfire. Alcohol makes a flame grow out of our control. Why do you feel this guilty for it?"

"I've already lost too much…" Winter mutters, leaning back on her bed frame and hugging a pillow on her lap. She changes her gaze from the wall to her orphaned cousin. "Do you feel the same kind of emptiness I do?"

Cinder takes a shaky breath. "This isn't about me. I don't remember my mother and I have no clue who my father is. I can't feel empty over something that never filled me."

"I know you're avoiding my question with that rehearsed answer."

Cinder crosses her arms and gets up to leave, not wanting to be here anymore. She doesn't look back at Winter as she opens the door.

"Cinder, wait," Winter calls.

Cinder stops at the doorway and leans against it as Winter scurries to her feet. She goes over to the corner of her room and pulls out a tied-up plastic bag to give her.

"Can you throw this in the trash for me?" Winter asks.

Cinder takes the bag and can't help herself but look to see what's inside, especially since it's heavy and lumpy. She takes a peek and is surprised to see Winter's makeup in there. That's the red flag. They're rich enough to say that they have way more money than they need but Winter is throwing away so much money in makeup, some of which is still in its original packaging.

"Why?" Is all Cinder needs to ask her.

"I can't hide these scars," Winter replies, pointing to the ones underneath her eye that were just starting to heal beautifully.

"Yes, you can," Cinder responds. "It's makeup, it's supposed to fix that."

"It doesn't work that way."

Cinder just slowly nods as she backs away from Winter with her trash bag of makeup. Happy Winter would've said something like "makeup isn't magic". Cinder closes Winter's door behind her as she walks down the hallway and heads down the stairs. At first, Cinder thought that Winter's makeup was the only complex thing she would never understand; now, it's a combination of the makeup and her scars.

-o-

Levana looks up from her paperwork when she hears her phone ringing. Unable to see her phone under her messy work, she pushes the books and papers on top to the floor and feels the hardwood of her desk to see where the vibrations are and she sees her stapler moving. Levana lifts it and finds her phone underneath it. She answers the call without seeing who it is so it wouldn't go to voicemail.

"Hello?" Levana says in one breath sounding rushed. She pushes away from her desk a bit.

Rikan: Ms. Blackburn, is this a bad time?

"No, not at all." Levana takes a breath. "I'm sorry for not returning your call right away. Some … complications occurred with my girls."

Rikan: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Are they good now?

Levana exhales sharply. "Not really but we'll manage."

Rikan: Is now a bad time?

"Not at all."

Rikan: So, about the job offer - I highly admire your experience in that extreme setting.

Levana scoffs. "Extreme is an understatement for my sister's rule but why do you suddenly need me on board?"

Levana's face suddenly shifts and she finds herself sitting straighter in concern as she listens to Mayor Rikan of Commonwealth reveal his spreading sickness. This news teeters Levana to say yes but her eyes dart their way towards a photo on her desk of Evret with the girls as children. She knows that he wouldn't want her to take the girls out no matter how much better this job would be.

Then, Levana hears a soft knock on the door. She puts Mayor Rikan on hold as she sees Winter peek her head inside before entering, slowly closing the door behind her. Levana looks up at Winter and her puffy eyes, wanting to know what she needs that could be so important now.

"What, Winter?" Levana asks.

At first, Winter says nothing and isn't looking at Levana. Sometimes, Winter's mind wanders. People sound like they need talking underwater. Other times, it's like Orion's Beach. Everything is chaotic, inflamed, bloody. Levana rolls her eyes to herself as she calls Winter's name again, finally getting her attention.

"Stepmother…" Winter mutters. "I can't breathe here anymore. Artemisia is covered in blood and it's making me hear all these guilt-causing voices. Please save me from my mind."

It's almost as if the stars were on Levana's side. She perks with a genuine smile as she walks over to Winter to console her only for her benefit. Her arm curls around Winter's head until she's patting down on her curls and rests her head on top. Levana wants to scream happily at the perfectly timed request from Winter. To think that Winter was one of the only reasons holding her back and now she's the one letting her go. The stars are in her favour.

"Don't worry, Winter…" Levana mutters with a grin on her face. "I'll take care of everything. Get something to eat and if you don't like anything, have Cinder go out and buy something."

Winter nods as she breaks from Levana and walks out of her office, closing the door behind her. Levana smirks and laughs evilly to herself as she clears her throat and puts the phone back to her ear.

"Mayor Rikan?" Levana questions. "I apologize for that interruption from my stepdaughter. However, back to what we were talking about, I'll be in Commonwealth by the next month."

-o-

Almost an hour later, Levana takes off her earrings in front of her vanity. As she fidgets with her necklace, she drops the piece of jewelry when she hears the sound of someone angrily banging on the door with both fists. Levana rolls her eyes, knowing only one person who would make so much noise.

"Levana, can I come in?!" Cinder yells from the other side of the door.

Levana finally unhooks her necklace and drops it into her jewelry box. "Why bother asking when you'll barge in anyways?"

Cinder bursts through the door and Levana turns around to lean against her vanity, rubbing lotion on her hands as she raises her eyebrows, having seen Cinder's reaction coming. She waits for the young girl to blow up right before her.

"I saw Winter packing because apparently, we're moving?!" Cinder exclaims. "Why?!"

"I've been emailing Dr. Darnel, a psychologist and neurologist situated in Commonwealth, for a while now," Levana responds. "I told him what I should do about Winter and he said that it would be best if Winter got some fresh air. Coincidentally, Winter asked me if we could leave town before I could pitch the idea to her. Also, I got a job offer from Mayor Rikan of Commonwealth and I had to accept. So, yes, Cinder, we're moving to Commonwealth."

"I would've like to be filled in on this!" Cinder yells. "Or at least asked for my input! This isn't fair!"

"Your mother would say that fairness is boring. And if we did have a conference, you would've gotten outvoted, Cinder, that's how a democracy works if you didn't know that like your mother. If you don't cooperate, you will be nothing but a disgrace to me and Channary."

Cinder glares at her. "Both of your opinions don't matter to me."

"Tell that to her face," Levana says.

Levana shows Cinder's reflection in her vanity's mirror by turning it towards her and she freezes. It's her face but it's also a replica of her mother's face. Cinder only knows it's her mother's face from pictures she's seen and not direct memories. Levana readjusts her mirror and Cinder's eyes flicker back up to her.

"Start packing," Levana orders.

Cinder spins on her heel and slams the door shut on her way out. At this point, Cinder could feel the anger rising in her. It's something that's been happening ever since Orion's Beach. It starts as a migraine and moves down to her limbs until she's vibrating. She can feel herself losing control and yanking out her hair until it just stops, and she finds herself in front of Winter's door.

Cinder opens Winter's door, about to yell at her but stops when she sees Winter with her back to her. She softly sings to herself about all the blood on the walls and the voices in her head and when Winter turns around, Cinder's breath is punched out of her lungs as she sees Winter's face. It's bare with not one crumb or smudge of makeup on it. Cinder is aware that Winter stopped wearing makeup a while ago but it's only now that she notices the full effect. The scars are in full notice but they don't look like scars; the resemble beauty marks. Her hair is big and falling over her shoulders in curly tsunamis. The thing about Winter Hayle-Blackburn is that she could never look bad. It was as if she was genetically predetermined to look amazing. She has liquid gold running through her veins and magic in her heart.

She deserves the best and that's why Cinder's speechless and shivering. Maybe if she wants to fix or love Winter, she has to give her a new setting. Maybe a new start in a new town is what they'd need for their fairytale. Although new beginnings are difficult, they could start from anything and if they decided that Commonwealth would be their happily ever after, then it will be.

Sometimes, the only person she needs is herself and that's when it comes to the realization that it always feels worse before it gets better, even if people end up losing their minds while healing. The only bright side to this madness is that crazy people never worry about being crazy. And maybe like Winter's beauty, some are born mad and others remain so.

"Cinder?" Winter questions.

Cinder shakes her head, freeing herself from Winter's unconscious hypnotic spell. She takes an empty packing box from Winter and holds it to her chest.

"You know, Levana favours you," Cinder says.

Winter disagrees. "She does not."

Cinder nods to support her point. "She does. She shows concern for you which is creepy but still, it's there. Levana doesn't give a spade about me."

"Cinder, that's not true. You're her niece, you're her blood. I don't want you to hate me over something so petty."

Cinder gives a sad smile with a shrug. "I never needed Levana's approval but I could never hate you. You're family to me."

"I'm sorry about leaving Artemisia."

"Don't worry about it. I've always wanted to visit The Earthen Union." That was a lie since she has never heard or shown interest in Commonwealth, not even after learning they'll move there.

Winter smiles a little. "I heard it snows there."

"Winter will finally get to experience winter."

[Yes, there will be a snow arc one day in the future. It's not in the next arc but in the next season (no pun intended).] [2020: I'm writing that arc now!]