Moonflower- A Lunar Chronicles Fanfiction

Chapter 35

Cynthia couldn't believe what she was seeing, on several accounts.
First, as her mother had implied, there was a room beyond the glass windows of the queen's former study. It was dark except for a pulsing light in the center. The light was centered between two pillars as if straight out of a movie. If anything was the source of the Lunar gift, this had to be it.
Second, however, was the sight of her mom and the professor crumpled on the floor crying out in pain.
Oh. This was a bioelectric pulse.
Quicker than her this time, Leo reached out and called the light into his fingertips. It dissolved into him at his touch and faded leaving the room pitch black but safe for their Lunar team.
Cynthia expected something to happen. Was that all it took to destroy the Lunar gift? Were they free of this "magic" that had caused such turmoil over the years?
They sat there in the dark for a couple moments waiting. It was impossible to remember exactly how far they were from the study, and Cynthia noted that it had been the empress and the professor with flashlights, not her or Leo.
Finally a small finger light switched on from the floor and the princess breathed a sigh of relief.
"No wonder no one showed me in here. No one wanted to come in here!" Mumbled the empress as she pried herself off the floor.
The professor chuckled at her comment. "Perhaps next time the light wielders should go first."
Cynthia didn't really feel that now was the time for jokes. "So did that do it mom? Is the Lunar gift gone?"
The words had barely escaped her lips before the empress replied, already shaking her head, "No. It's still there. I'd know even unconscious if I lost it."
Leo sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I should have known it wouldn't be that simple. We need some more light to look around in here."
"Lights?" Cynthia called, more of a question than a command, and to her embarrassment they flickered on. Now she felt foolish for waiting in the dark.
Her embarrassment didn't last long. The room, as it turned out, was actually not empty, but filled to the brim with machines made of iron and titanium. She approached one carefully, praying it wasn't a trap.
"These were probably being powered by the bioelectric light in the middle of the room," Cinder reasoned, her mechanic's eye bouncing off each other machines at a rapid pace. "They were probably trapped meant to keep people out."
"Makes sense," Cynthia responded, looking at the pulleys and conveyor belts and computer panels. "No Lunar would be able to disable it."
"But no Lunar would be able to make it past the bioelectric pulse. It knocks them out," Leo countered. "Why would they need all these other traps."
The professor sighed impatiently, "Think Mr. Thorne, what have Lunars always despised most?"
"Mirrors?" Guessed Leo.
"Levanna?" Guessed Cynthia.
"Earthens," finished the empress, realization spreading across her features. "What Lunar would want the gift taken away anyway? Earthens were the real threat all along."
"Good, Cynthia and I are half earthen, so we're already prepared. Now what?" Leo searched the room, his eyes darting around looking for something substantial to grab onto.
Cynthia walked toward the far end of the room, careful to avoid the pointy ends of all the traps. There had to be something that these traps were protecting, but what was it?
The back wall and floor of the room seemed sturdy. Cynthia even tried to put her foot through the wall, suspicious as a result of the way she entered this room, but she only hit solid wall. She was about to give up hope when her eyes caught on a glimmer between the tiles of the room. It was bright, lingering in her eyes as a shadow for a few moments after she saw it. Something was beneath them.
"Cover your eyes and ears!" She called to the Lunars in the room. Then, after taking a deep breath, she blew the floor away with light.
And then she fell.
With a thump Cynthia felt a thin strip of concrete floor beneath her feet and steadied herself before she could tumble down the rest of the stairs.
"Are you alright Thia?" Leo called from above them. She looked up and saw his face about seven feet above her through a hole in the ceiling. Then her eyes trailed down the wall to her surroundings.
It was a gloomy spiral stairwell, like one that leads to a basement or a maintenance area, and the walls were lit with glowing torches. The sheer brightness of each of the lights told her that they must be bioelectric.
"I'm fine," Cynthia called back to her friend, "but mom and Professor Dianem need to stay up there. This entire stairwell is lit with bioelectric lights. We'll have to go on without them."
Leo didn't hesitate long before jumping down through the hole onto the staircase next to her.
"Your mom sends her love, but she knows we have to do this. They'll both be waiting for us when we get back." Leo assured her, but Cynthia couldn't help but wonder exactly where they would be getting back from.

——-

It took a long time to answer her question. The staircase seemed to descend forever. Step after step led Cynthia and Leo into the depths of the moon, but each spiral looked exactly like the last. It was not going to end.
Until it did.
With a great metal door.
"I can't even imagine what's behind that door," Cynthia whispered, backing up a little to rest against Leo behind her.
"It's been one crazy thing after another today." Leo whispered back. There was no one to hear them, as far as they knew, but something about the whole thing made neither of them want to raise their voice above a whisper.
Cynthia swallowed her fear and went toward the door. For some reason her hands trembled. Despite everything she went through, despite all the dangers she'd endured, despite everything that was at stake, she was afraid. Was her mom afraid during the revolution? Did her dad shale like this when he agreed to marry the evil Queen Levanna? Would Scarlet have hesitated in opening this door?
Maybe.
And somehow that gave Cynthia enough courage to reach out for the doorknob.
"Thia wait," Leo said, as if snapping out of a trance and rushing down the stairs to join her by the door.
"I've had enough waiting." Cynthia snapped. Then she clutched his cheek with her hand and pressed her lips to his, savoring a kiss that was long overdue. The scruff on his chin had barely scratched her skin before she let him go and flung open the door.

A/N:  Hi everyone!

Boy was that an weird chapter to write. I hoped you like it all the same!

So big news! With this chapter I crossed the 40k word mark! That means this book is officially novel length!! This my longest story I've ever written so thanks everyone so much for reading it! (Sorry about all the exclamation points)

Just thought you all should know that I'm currently working on my first ever reread of TLC. As much as I love the books I just never seemed to have time to reread them. The other day though Marissa Meyer posted a 19 week schedule to reread all of her books before Renegades comes out, and I decided I wanted to try it! Unfortunately I'm not doing well on staying with the schedule. I started reading Cinder on Thursday and finished it yesterday, and then I finished Scarlet this afternoon. They schedule had six weeks delegated for those two books! Whoops! I'll probably need the extra time to read Winter anyway. 😂😂

Let me know if you are planning to reread TLC any time soon, and tell me if you're planning on reading Renegades. I am so pumped for it!!

Thank for reading!
Love,
Theresa

P.S.  If you think this chapter was exciting (getting our Cynthia/Leo kiss finally XD) just wait for the next time we see them. It's either going to be really surprising or really weird!