Moonflower- A Lunar Chronicles Fanfiction

Chapter 15

The emperor looked down at his son and then turned to Cynthia. Few people would recognize it because Kai was so good at masking his emotions for the public, but Cynthia could see it. His eyes held something past distress, past sadness, past anger. They held defeat.
Cynthia reached out to comfort her father, but he pulled his gaze away at the last second and turned toward Rikan.
He cleared his throat and tried to straighten his slumped shoulders. When he spoke his words came halting and quavering as if he was reliving every moment in horrible detail.
"We found the lunar soldiers, or rather, they found us. We were right in our suspicions that the soldiers are being controlled by thaumaturges, and there are much more than we expected. We landed in fields a few minutes hover from the place that had been attacked. Wolf, Iko, and Cinder went out to scout first, and right after we all stepped off the ship the army attacked. Wolf was taken under control of one of the thaumaturges and turned against us. Before Cinder could take his mind back he grabbed her and took her to their leader, a thaumaturge by the name of Nyx Weile. I didn't recognize her, but that was probably because the rest of us were occupied with staying out of the claws of lunar soldiers cutting us off from the Rampion, and my eyes were glued to your mother. The rogue thaumaturges must have raided a Linh device factory, because the put one on Cinder. Normally because of the power of her royal blood the device short-circuits and has no effect on her, but this one was something we had never seen before. The moment they stuck it in her neck she collapsed and was rendered useless. Then the nearest thaumaturge flicked their hand and Cinder rose and joined the ranks of wolfen soldiers. Iko raced after Cinder, but was ripped apart by the soldiers and left in shreds. After they had your mother the thaumaturges seemed satisfied, and the rest of us escaped all too easily. It was as if the thaumaturges had loosened their control on the soldiers purposely to let us through. Kinney was able to push through and save Iko's ID chip, and Jacin had to drag me onto the ship..." He broke off then out of breath and too choked on emotions to continue.
Behind him Thorne and Cress approached. "Spades they got into the Rampions systems while we weren't looking. When I went to set the ship for descent we came in too hard. It was a miracle the impact didn't kill us all." Thorne's eyes wandered to the smoking ship. "My ship..." He whisper-wailed.
Cynthia's mind was blank. She couldn't comprehend what had happened. Her mother, the strongest, smartest, and bravest person she knew had been kidnapped and rendered useless? And one of the gentlest people she knew was turned against her family and friends against his will. It didn't make sense. She couldn't imagine her mind or thoughts being anyone's but her own.
She turned to her brother to see the same numb expression as her own. Fitz looked terrified, and Solstice's eyes read fiery anger. But Leo was not looking at any person or thing or even staring off into the distance. His eyes darted quickly around the grounds to the Rampion and the emperor and his parents and the palace and the Cynthia. What was he planning?
Cynthia balled her fists at her sides, tugging fistfuls of her skirt. "What are we going to do?" She asked the group, though her eyes were trained on her father.
There is was again, not disguised anymore. The emperor's shoulder's drooped low, his frown deepened, his eyes lost focus. Defeat seeped from his body.
"I don't know sweetheart. I've lost her again, and I'm helpless."
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The knock came at Cynthia's door near three in the morning, and though she was in bed Cynthia had yet to sleep. Thoughts and memories and worries about her mother crashed through her head and she couldn't bring herself to let them go for fear that at that very same moment she would lose her mother to the hands of the rogue Lunars. She was expecting hot tea from a kind maid who had come to check on her, so the knock did not come as a surprise.
"Come in!" She called as she began to sit up in her bed.
The door swung open and to Cynthia's surprise it was not her maid that entered the room, but Leo. In one hand he carried a tray with a teapot and with the other he covered his eyes.
"Leo what are you..." Cynthia started.
"You've got ten seconds to grab a robe Thia. I have some things you'll want to hear but we need to hurry because your maid doesn't know I grabbed the tea for you, and she'll be up here any minute.
Suddenly even less tired than before Cynthia scrambled out of bed and grabbed a robe to wear over her thin nightgown. Then she settled onto am armchair as Leo finished counting down from ten.
When he took his hands off his eyes he blinked several times and looked for her in the enormous room. When he found her he met her eyes and she could see his plan twinkling in his eye. He took a seat next to her on the armchair and put the tea on a table in front of them.
"I have a plan Thia," he said as he poured them each a cup.
"I figured that out myself," Cynthia told him as she took a cup and warmed her hands with it.
Leo's mouth lifted in a half smile. "You always do..." He looked down at his tea and then back up at her. "I know how much your mom means to you, and to everyone. Right now your dad is in deep distress, Winter is immobile at Jacin's bedside, my father is being comforted at the loss of his ship by my mother, Scarlet hasn't woken, and Kinney is trying to find a way to repair or replace Iko's broken body. Meanwhile your mom and Wolf are at the mercy of the biggest threat to the Earthen Union and interplanetary peace in twenty years."
"The original Rampion crew has failed at saving our world and there's no one left. No one except us." Leo continued.
Cynthia looked at him confused. "Fitz, Solstice, you, and I all have something in common that I think is the key to getting your mom back." Leo explained. "We're all part or full Lunar. I did a lot of reading at the academy between training sessions, and I think there's something we're missing about the Lunar gift both Earthens and Lunars alike. If we could find a way to destroy the Lunar gift permanently we could save your mom and the entire planet, and I think we have to be the ones to do it."
"How?" Cynthia asked confused, but for some reason hopeful at his words. There was something about his tone and confidence that made her want to believe him.
"There's an elderly Earthen-Lunar historian by the name of Raini Dianem who lives near the city the soldiers originally attacked in, and I think he can help us. We can take a ship tomorrow, the four of us and find out. I promise Thia, we are going to save your mom."
The princess's eyes brimmed with tears but she quickly swiped them away. "Let's do it." She said.
She was about to stand to let Leo out so she could try and get a few hours of sleep before they left, but before she could Leo wrapped her in a tight hug.
"I'm so sorry this is happening to you Thia," he whispered into her hair. "I wish I could take it all away and rewind to your birthday when everything was better."
"Me too..." She whispered back.
Neither of them made much of an effort to pull away, each one finding comfort in the other's embrace. Maybe it was the calming tea, but when the maid arrived ten minutes later the childhood friends were finally fast asleep. They still held on to each other, and yet they were both finally at ease.