𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋 | lady lesso

eighteen

Jealousy clouds the woman's features. She hasn't aged a day since the newspaper cut-out mother showed me from 22 years ago, and judging by the new found silence in the hall - neither has her authority. I'm made hyper aware of my beating heart, it's rhythm faster than usual.

"Cruella." My impertinent grandmother spits, malice lacing her voice. "I expected more from you, from your rather underdressed daughter." Her eyes don't even meet mine as they judge me, the conflict she's trying to cause is clear as day.

"Don't speak about my daughter. I could say the same about yours."

"If you're trying to cause a fight could you tell me so I can leave?" I moue, as if I'd ever take the opportunity to leave a real fight. And one between families none the less.

I can see Zylia is uncomfortable in the situation and attempts to discreetly signal her over. She doesn't move - like a gargoyle, frozen in time and condemned to watching the most harrowing crimes unfold.

The Dalmatians circle like sharks, their prey unchosen - DeVil or Hellman? It makes me question their loyalty and ultimately: everyone's safety, Lesso's being high on my list.

"I don't believe she is my daughter, Cruella." The Baroness smirks, chin high. "In fact I'm sure she's your daughter's twin. The one you dumped in my cell as a feeble attempt to make me pay further to what I did to your 'mother'." She continues.

I spare a glance at the rigid, pale posture of the woman beside me. Her complexion blends in with the presumably hand-made fur coat she wears. I look across to Zylia whose eyes meet mine with staggering certainty. Her eyes glow purple and it suddenly clicks.

The weird amount of sympathy for her although I am certainly evil. The matched eagerness to create clothes. The similar colour of our powers. The fact our birthdays are the same day, minutes apart. The fact we never spoke about it because deep down we knew it meant something had to change, and . I hold my breath - praying that my mother isn't as bad as she sounds.

"Mother, is this true?" I ask, turning to face her with the straightest face I can summon in this situation. She hesitates.

"Yes." I have to turn away from her guilty face that doesn't continue to explain. I'm not particularly close with her but we never lie to each other. That is the one rule we both promised to abide by, and for my whole life she's been lying. I look across to Zylia.

"Did you know?" I spit, malice lacing my tone. If she knew too, then I will have to lock myself away, far far from society. Her brain registers my question quicker than her mouth, face contorting into a similar expression to my mother and I now have my answer.

"I can't believe both of you, especially you." I spit at my mother, the dogs start to growl - drool slipping through their teeth. I look up to find the dog whistle in the Baronesses mouth, her hand readily waiting to point at a target. Her hand lifts towards my mother and they pounce.

I reach for the material of their collars in my mind and grimace as they turn to snakes writhing in the opposite direction to wrap their elongated bodies around a set table leg. The dogs advances are cut short as they jolt backwards, left to snap at our ankles. The restraints aren't strong but they will hold for now.

"You really think your sister doesn't have similar powers, you fool." She smirks. I look at the dogs half expecting her to free them but their collars don't move. What I hear however, freezes the marrow of my bones. A roar followed by a bloodcurdling scream to my right draws my attention. The whole room gasps, some rising from their seats and in the corner of my eye I see a mess of red hair and a princess.

The fur coat my mother was wearing has been transfigured into a polar bear, its teeth sinking into the flesh of her upper arm. Blood pours from the wound as it starts to pull at her body. I push the bile back down my throat and attempt to prize away the jaws of the beast. It makes a snap at her neck.

Zylia must release her magic as it disappears, returning back to normal apart from a growing red stain as she collapses to the floor. I slide to my knees and prop up her head.

"Fucking bitch." She curses breathlessly, painted red lips merging with the blood trickling from her mouth. "Always getting someone else to do the dirty work for her."

"Save your breath." I whisper, tears threatening to fall.

She places her hand on my face, "Fuck her up my darling girl. And help your sister." I temporarily forget her lies and take this as permission. And when this comes from her it overrides any rule set in place to stop me from killing this woman.

I rise, blood igniting and the magic coursing through my veins. I use the Baronesses brown fur coat (which is the only presentable item she wears) to conform into a lion - leaving her in the orange uniform of a criminal.

Zylia's bear appears, leaping over me to face the large cat. A series of growling fills the room, along with the dogs barking and the shouting of bystanders. The Villains laugh at the free show, the Heroes instead looking displeased by the disruption.

I don't hear much, other than the blood rushing in my ears. The lioness lunges for the bear's throat at will, dodging as a giant paw comes down towards it. She claws her way upon his back biting the back of his neck before leaping off. I send her running straight towards Zylia who defends her carer as I do mine.

Her body doesn't move as she begs the defeated animal to get up. Her eyes close as the lioness runs towards her. I make it jump, landing and using her shoulder to travel further, as it hurdles towards the Baroness. If anyone deserves to die it's her, and because we're in a magical land the consequences will be different.

Her scream is pleasurable as the lionesses golden fur becomes coated with her blood - scratching her chest and sinking its teeth into the flesh of her stomach. I want it to be painful, I want to rip out her stupid heart whilst it's still beating. The exhaustion is starting to set in but the flow of my magic doesn't stop as I fall to my knees. Zylia shields her eyes from the scene.

Someone runs in front of me, their blue eyes wild and panicked. Their mouth moves but my senses are overrun by magic and blood. Their shouting soon reaches my brain, slightly fuzzy.

"Call it off! Y/N listen to me darling!" And suddenly I'm not so angry anymore, I remember the rules. But it's too late as the lioness pads over and drops her heart in my palm, shrinking back into a fur coat. The room quietens and all I can hear is Lesso's breathing and the heart beating, warm in my hands, blood slipping through my fingers.

I let it fall to the floor as I drop my head into the crook of her neck, inhaling the cinnamon-pumpkin scent. "I'm so sorry. Fuck Leonora I-"

"We can fix this." She whispers, arms surrounding my tired body. But she can't because rules are rules and I broke the biggest one of them all with a hall full of witnesses.

No killing before graduation.