The Fire Didn't Stop Her

The Infiltration

Cress had done as Cinder asked and cloaked the ship from all of the E.C.'s defenses. There was no way that anyone would see them coming.

All of them were trekking through the back area of the palace to the "secret paths" that were used to escort the royal family out of dangerous situations. They all had their assignments, and they all knew what to do.

Erland would go with Thorne to the Medic Center to make a solution to help fix his eyes, as the doctor said he could do. Wolf and Cress – who were both wearing very formal attire – would enter the ball as guests. Thanks to Cress's amazing hacking skills, they had the invitations they needed to get into the coronation. They would be able to distract the guests in case of any holes in their plan. Iko would get in as a servant droid and get Kaito to his room to keep him away from all of the danger. Jacin's job was to make sure no one got in Cinder's way.

And Cinder's job was to sabotage the arrangements for the wedding. Including stealing a certain object that the ceremony couldn't proceed without. Actually, two things that the wedding couldn't proceed without.

As they all moved through the palace, Cinder felt an odd sensation in her chest growing. It was a feeling of pure anguish, sorrow, and misery. The feeling of complete despair. Her heart ached under the steady waves of the emotional current. Looking over he shoulder, no one else seemed to feel it, but Wolf had a twang of depression in his gaze. Still, that could have been from Scarlet being trapped on Luna.

They moved as one through the underground tunnels. The schematics of the network and the tunnel exits on her retinal scanner. One of the tunnels led to the Medical Center, just as Thorne and the doctor needed.

"Doctor," Cinder said in a hushed tone. "Take this tunnel and then take a right. It will lead you to the Med Center." The old man took Thorne by the arm and guided him along the way. After a minute or so, Cinder couldn't hear them walking.

The group pushed on, and Cinder told each group where they had to leave to get to their locations for the plan to work. Soon, Cinder was the only one walking along the tunnel.

The sinking feeling in her chest grew and grew. The sheer power of the waves sending her vision into a blurry mess for a second. Her schematics showed that she was directly beneath one of the royal fitting rooms used for making the perfect outfits that the Royal family would wear on special occasions. Such as today.

In remorse, Cinder held up her metal hand and placed it to the highest part of the tunnel. She pain only became stronger. She felt the agony of abandonment, hopelessness, depression, the feeling of not being good enough to do anything right, and the torment of a nearly broken mind. Instead of tears, a headache was pounding in her head. Still, she couldn't let whoever was suffering go on in such pain.

Cinder didn't want to glamour them into being happier. So, she took on the despair of some of the emotions the person above her was dying of. The heartbreak, the loneliness, the desire to die. The major emotions that no one should have to feel.

Her other hand came to rest on the bridge of her chest. Her heart wanted to give out. But she forced it to go on. Kai needed her. He needed to be saved from Levana, just as Luna and Earth did. While she could save those two later, she only had a small amount of time to help Kai. Since Doctor Erland had made it sound like Kai was on the verge of dying.

When she finished, she took her hand from the ceiling and trudged on. She guessed that she wasn't the only one having a horrible day after feeling what the person above her was thinking.

At the end of her path, the exit was covered in a wall of Rose bushes. Kai told her that his mother had planted them when he was only a baby. And was in aw about how much they'd grown since. Carefully, Cinder moved the wall just enough for her to get through, then moved them back into their exact spot.