As I'm typing this chapter, my university is having a Purge-like crisis which has gotten so much worse now than when I started this chapter. And as I'm publishing it, everything is slowly recovering from hell.

Sifting Through Cinder: Part Three

Artemisia, Luna

Cinder walks out of the bathroom, having finished preparing herself for the day. She puts on her dark flannel she left resting on the corner of her bed and sees Wolf lacing up his sneakers as Cress unplugs her phone from the charger on the wall. Cinder doesn't have to ask to notice that her friends are feeling a bit uneasy. She can almost feel their nerves like tension. At least her texts from Kai were giving her a sense of stability.

"My mother's death anniversary is not going to ruin this," Cinder states.

"Are you sure?" Cress asks. "You've never really been out there when Artemisia, what's the word, celebrates it."

"Besides, it's a mess out there," Wolf reasons for her.

Cinder crosses her arms at them. "It'll be fine."

"Why don't we go look for your dad instead?" Cress suggests. "We could walk around some of his car shops or whatnot?"

"His event isn't until tomorrow." Cinder lowers her arms and sighs. "What am I supposed to say? Hey, I'm the long-lost Selene. Mom died sixteen years ago and you're my father. That's messed up."

"Then what were you going to say to him?" Wolf asks. "What was the point of all this?"

Cinder shrugs. "We're exploring. Now, come on, let's go."

"Aren't you forgetting?" Cress asks, referring to the touristy merchandise Wolf got them yesterday. Cress was currently wearing her sunglasses like a headband and Wolf had nothing. Hypocrite.

"I'll be fine without those," Cinder reassures.

"If you want to get burned at the stake," Wolf states.

"Please." Cinder puts on her I Love Artemisia baseball cap. She pulls her ponytail out of the back and some strands around her forehead. "I'm a master at this." She puts on the matching sunglasses and gives Wolf a matching hat. It's only for their sake so they could walk the streets with ease. "Let's roll."

-o-

Commonwealth, The Earthen Union

Kai spent five minutes putting the address into his GPS. It didn't need to take that much time nor did he need directions. He knew how to get to the cemetery. His issue is that he's stalling. He's been delaying himself from seeing his dad's tombstone ever since he slept through his alarm.

Because when he sees his dad's, he'll see his mom's. He isn't sure when he last visited but the more years that passed, the less he and his father stopped by.

And his friends didn't pester. Scarlet looks at him concerned from the passenger's seat, wondering if she should offer to drive. Winter shifts position in her seat in the back. Beside her, Thorne wonders if either of the girls will say something.

Finally, Kai exhales. He puts his phone in his cup holder before starting the engine.

"Are you sure you want to drive?" Scarlet asks.

"I got this," Kai responds, unsure if he believes in himself.

-o-

Artemisia, Luna

They were right, the streets were chaotic. People marched the streets, causing traffic jams. Nobody was allowed to wear hateful or slandering propaganda merchandise but that didn't stop people. There were too many people to arrest and why would the law act on something they secretly support? If they just look away, they can't apprehend something they can't see. Corruption.

Cinder couldn't blame them. Her mother was wicked and they have a right but a lot of people here were too young to understand the Blackburn regime. She isn't even sure she understands it, but Wolf has a better chance. His people have lived like this for years while her mother was in power.

"Oh, look," Cress, says, pointing to the tourist's centre. "A tribute."

The three of them walk over and see the wall in the centre of the city that was dedicated to past leaders. It would get updated whenever someone new is elected. They walk past, looking at the events that highlighted each president. Of course, and not only because it was her day, but Channary Blackburn also had the biggest exhibit. There are photos of her in office, in power. Behind her is a map of Luna with certain parts marked with dots that had tidbits of information. Some were personal details like where she grew up and went to school. Others are places she's impacted while in power, both good and bad.

Her area had more security since people would come to vandalize, especially today.

"I've never been here before," Cinder mutters as she starts reading all the information from top to bottom.

Cress looks at her in shock. "You never visited your mother's exhibit?"

Cinder shrugs. "Levana never let me."

"Since when has that stopped you?"

Another shrug. "I don't know. I just figured they'd say all the same spades I've already heard. Besides, sometimes you don't know if you can believe these or not even if they say they're verified by historians with and all those spades."

Cress nods as they all continue reading. A lot of it has to do with information Cinder told them or from the many documentaries played on television. Cinder looks over and sees Wolf looking at his part of town. She sees the photos of protests, screams from the poor towards the rich and powerful. They caused riots to get attention, to get help but it never came until her mother died. Other countries were scared to cross the border and discuss the matter because they had their own alliances to protect. So that's why people either left Luna or died.

Historians would argue that history is written by the victors and they're right. The losers were either dead, paid off or powerless. Sometimes even all three. But in the war of classes, they both had their excerpts. The rich loved Channary, the poor called her the devil incarnate. Nothing new. No Ph.D. had to prove that fact.

"I never thought it would happen to me," Wolf says, reading someone's testimony. "It always felt like I just happened to be there. It was safer to feel like a witness, to pretend that this couldn't be my life."

Cinder nods. "It's bizarre how far and evil our own flesh and blood would go just to make some money and wield some power."

It became so quiet in here that she feels like one of the last surviving citizens of a ghost town.

"There's a section on you," Cress says, pointing to the lower corner of the map.

The three of them look and see a subtitle, Selene Blackburn, in cursive, followed by her date of birth and some photos of Channary holding her with added text. Cinder takes a step closer, crouching to get a better look. Her mother is holding her in her arms, looking at her with the brightest smile. For once, it's not staged, it's genuine happiness.

Cinder knows there was always an energy that always surrounded Channary. Some people stopped. Some people stood. Others constantly swirled or swarmed around her. But seeing her mother hold her? That was the Channary Blackburn nobody ever spoke about: the one who saw her daughter as the whole world. The loving mother who only wanted the best. The proactive mother who left her everything. The protective mother who wanted nobody else but herself to watch her.

If there was one positive thing Levana could say about Channary, it's that she loved her daughter. This is her family story whether she liked it or not.

Cinder continues looking, feeling something in her eye. When she raises her hand up to check, she feels something wet. A tear? That's new. Cinder wipes it away quickly, having no interest in crying here. Or at all. She's about to stand up but sees a little boy standing beside her.

Cinder stares at the kid for a few moments. She watches the kid alternate looking from her and her mother. A few rounds later and Cinder smiles watching him grin because he knows who she is. This kid took seventeen seconds while the rest of the world got nothing after seventeen years.

In response, Cinder puts a finger to her mouth, making a shushing gesture.