Cinder X Bella ~ Forty-One!

- Bella -

The night passed fitfully for Bella as she tried to get any sleep she possibly could, but only managed to snatch small sections of shuteye. Early, very early, she heard her stepfamily arrive home. They burst into the house, practically shouting in excitement, with Cattiva running around and sending plumes of dust falling from the floorboards above Bella's head. The one voice the Beast Singer was dreading the most, Matringa, was silent.

She waited and waited, but soon the noises faded away, to be replaced by total silence as the exhausted group went to sleep. Bella let out a soft sigh of relief, allowing her eyes to drift closed and sleep to take her. Just before she fully dozed off, she allowed herself to subvocalize her hope, just to get it out into the world around her. “Maybe she didn't notice?”

An unknown amount of time later, Bella suddenly sat bolt upright in her bed, her breathing suddenly sharp and echoing in the stillness of her room. She gasped for breath, clutching at her heart as it hammered against her ribs. She shivered as she sat in her bed, the air around her thick with the weight of stillness and the unseen. Bella cast her senses around the inky darkness, searching for anything that could have ripped her from her uneasy slumber… but there was only oppressive darkness in all directions. 

Ever so slowly, her heartbeat began to slow, and Bella realized it was even quieter than usual in there. Without even a single mouse remaining in the manor, there was no one cuddling up to her to provide a modicum of warmth, sense of community, or connection. She started to lie back down, grumblingly resigning herself to stress-induced nightmares. Pulling on her blanket, she turned over and stretched out her arm, only to freeze in terror as her fingers met something unexpected.

It wasn't fabric, the wall, or the woven straw decorating her space. It was colder, harder. Without even realizing it, she allowed her fingers to trace the contours of the item, and her breath caught in her throat when she realized it was the arm of a chair.

Turning her head slowly, straining to peer through the darkness, Bella finally made out a faint silhouette. There was a figure sitting on the chair, calmly waiting for her to wake up.

“Humm…” Matringa shifted slightly, the sound of her fingers drumming on the arm of the chair as loud as thunder in Bella's ears. “Don't you sleep deeply. That must be nice. The sleep of someone with nothing to hide.”

Bella was rooted to the spot, every instinct within her screaming that the danger she’d felt in her nightmare wasn’t a figment of her imagination. It was simply the presence of the woman who governed her fate with a quiet, terrifying malice. She fought against her desire to scream in surprise and fear, falling back on her habits over the last several years of learning to stay quiet no matter what. 

“I'm surprised, child.” Matringa shifted to the side and struck a match, the light blinding Bella enough that she had to turn away. The lady of the house put the match into a covered lantern, and soon a bright glow illuminated the entire room. “It seems like you understand your place, it seems like you finally know better than to fight against reality. Yet, tonight I know you were not where you were supposed to be.” 

As Bella blinked away the blurry vision left behind by a bad night's sleep, combined with the sudden brightness, her eyes refocused on Matringa… and once more, she had to stifle the urge to let out a shriek.

Sitting upon the chair was her stepmother, of that there was no doubt. But now? Now Bella saw another layer to Matringa, as though a translucent veil had been draped over the overbearing woman. There was a malevolent force clinging to the woman like a second skin, oozing an aura of decay and corruption that Bella could nearly taste. The dark energy seethed around her, dark tendrils rising and twisting in the air as if seeking out a new host at all times.

Luckily, Matringa took her widened eyes and fearful expression as confirmation of Bella's misdeeds, instead of as recognition of the darkness she held within her. The older lady leaned forward, and Bella’s brain nearly shut down as she tried to maintain her composure—the cursed energy reached out and brushed against her own skin, cold and clammy as it caressed her cheek. Yet, instead of completing the motion and touching her skin directly, it diverted around her like a gentle breeze flowing around a boulder.

“Where does it tingle, Bella?” Matringa’s sickly sweet tone sent Bella into yet another tailspin. For a moment, the young woman thought the Witch in front of her had realized she was being protected by the system boon given from her merit of Incorruptible Youth. 

Luckily, at the very last moment, Bella realized what she was talking about, bowing her head both to appear shamefaced and get the stomach-churning visage out of her sight. Realizing she’d been asked a direct question, Bella responded thickly, “the toes of my left foot, Signora Vigatori. I don't understand why… I was simply washing my feet in the basin over there, and suddenly I went numb.”

Matringa’s finger drumming slowed, coming to a stop after a long moment, though she remained staring at Bella, scanning her face for any sign of guilt. Then, in a flash of abrupt motion, she practically flew across the floor and ripped the carpet of woven straw away from the wall where Bella had pointed. The small depression, still half filled with water, greeted the intense, focused eyes of the Witch.

Though Bella could barely see in the darkness of the room, for some reason the darker, cloying energy surrounding Matringa remained visible at a distance. Her stepmother remained still for a long moment, staring down at the depression in the ground, before turning around to look at Bella. 

Then she turned fully around to face Bella.

The incongruous motion made Bella's head spin, as she realized Matringa’s foul power had shifted to look at her before her actual body did. That at least explained how she had noticed some of Bella's trespasses in the past, when she’d mouthed off at the Witch’s back, thinking she wouldn't be seen doing so.

“Only your toes, you say…?” At a much more human pace, Matringa sauntered over and grabbed Bella's blanket, tossing the entire comforter halfway across the room with a casual motion to the side. Then she gripped Bella's ankle, staring intently at her toes. “So it is… so it is. Well, a breach of trust is a breach of trust, child. I'm going to have to take those toes.” 

“What?” Bella reflexively tried to pull away, but she couldn't break her stepmother's iron grip on her ankle. She thrashed around, but Matringa simply stood there, bored, as though holding the leg of a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Why would washing my feet make me lose my toes?”

“Because, Bella… that is what I’m allowed to take,” Matringa stated in a calm tone, as though she were ordering a sausage for breakfast. “I see that this room is not nearly as secure for you as it should be. I didn't realize it was practically falling apart… how easy would it be for you to burrow your way out like a little rat, if you had the mental capacity to have thought of it before now? Let's take this inside, to the attic.” 

“S-Signora! Please! What’s happening right now?” Bella’s voice warbled as the Witch turned and simply started walking, not releasing her grip on the leg. The young woman dropped from her bed, hitting the ground with an *oof* before skidding along the woven straw. Then she was bouncing off each stair as they ascended to ground level, and finally, they stepped out into early morning sunlight. For a moment, Bella was shocked by the amount of outdoor light—it was far later than she was expecting. 

In the next moment, Matringa let out a howl of pain, even as Bella felt a constriction on her heart vanish.

A golden ‘X’ appeared over her chest, fading after a long moment into a clear, hollow version of itself, which floated up and sank into her skin, permanently tattooing itself on her left cheek with a feeling like a feather gently tickling her. She’d forgotten this secondary function of the oath she had sworn to Matringa—to not ascend the basement stairs until told to do so—the golden ‘X’ on her heart had been transformed into a mark of someone who had fulfilled the most sacred of system oaths.

Bella watched as the presence of the system energy flowed through her, directly impacting the cursed energy surrounding Matringa’s hand where it was wrapped around her ankle and blasting the darkness away. As soon as she was released, Bella backpedaled, scrambling across the ground as she tried to escape the maniac who was trying to take her toes off. 

A moment later, she let out a scream of frustration as her stepmother appeared next to her, once more gripping her leg and inspecting her foot. It was only as Matringa let out a growl of absolute fury, like a wounded, rabid dog, that Bella's panic subsided enough for her to observe what was happening. Firstly, her stepmother's hand was bleeding freely, the skin blistered and torn where the system’s energy and her own overflowing evil had competed for space… only for her to lose. Badly. 

Secondly… her toes were no longer numb.

Even as she had that realization, Bella was abruptly tossed to the side as Matringa let out a deep scoff. “I can't believe this… that was enough to reset the skein of the local ward structure? Well, Bella, looks like you get to keep your toes today. Now, we've all had a long night, and I'm certain everyone would appreciate a hearty brunch. Better get to it.”

Ready to do anything to get away from her malicious stepmother, Bella scrambled away from her position on the ground and fled to the servant’s area immediately. With shaking hands, she gathered the ingredients from the pantry. Once she had everything arrayed before her, she glared and tried to command her hands to steady themselves.

They refused.

“Fine! If I can't control it, I'll use it.” Bella worked with frantic energy to control her breathing as she grabbed a whisk and tried to hold it still, ending up instead blending the eggs by using the involuntary motion alone. “Hah. See? Even when I’m out of control, I can be in control.”

Making sure to always keep her back to a wall and one eye on the door, she fried up thick slices of bacon, toasting the bread and laying it in a pattern pleasing to the eye, setting whipped butter in a small carafe next to it. Just as she finished with the main foodstuffs, the spicy aroma of black tea filled the kitchen, the herbal scent fighting against the overpowering stench of bacon grease. 

By the time everything was loaded up on a tray, Bella felt extremely drained, certainly too tired to be as scared as she’d been. She hauled everything up to the main level, mutely setting out plates and silverware around the cupboard dishes. Her stepfamily had begun to gather, still buzzing with the excitement of the previous night. 

“-and what do you make of those absurd crystal shoes?” Cattiva was saying to her older sister as they burst into the dining room. “Abyss, I can't get them out of my head! It's just so… so tacky!”

“How could those ever be appropriate footwear? Let alone when you’re at a party where dancing and moving around is mandatory?” Malvagio agreed with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “I suppose I could see it if someone was on a throne and didn't need to move at all, but how did they not break?”

“Maybe they did! Maybe that's why she ran out suddenly, to find someone to heal the shards jammed into the bottom of her feet,” Cattiva excitedly postulated, a wide grin spreading on her face. “That would make sense, as they sent everyone home right afterward. They needed to clean all the blood off the ground!” 

Matringa stepped into the room, and all conversation died instantly. The powerful Witch stalked over to her seat at the table, gracefully seating herself before allowing her daughters to follow suit. 

“That's enough, girls. Bella here had a lonely night and a good life lesson this morning. Why don't we all take turns listening to her as we break our fast? Bella, why don't you tell us, in exacting detail, what you did after you returned home last night? After all, you were washing your feet near the second hour of the morning! Surely you were doing something interesting, something you wouldn't mind sharing?”

Bella choked on nothing, her face going red as her mind went blank. Internally, she quailed as she silently begged the universe for any kind of reprieve. 

“Well? Don't keep us waiting, I'm sure it will be riveting. Nothing like a little look into your life to keep us on our toes.” Matringa’s voice took on a sharp quality, clearly demanding an answer instead of asking for one. As Bella's jaw worked silently, Matringa stared at her then slowly began standing from her seat as no words were forthcoming.

Just before she could punish Bella for not answering, a firm knock on the front door resonated through the house.

Matringa and Bella stood silently staring at each other for a long moment, before the older woman put a sickly sweet smile on her face and turned away. “Now, whoever could that be at this hour?”