Cinder X Bella ~ Thirty-Nine!

She was struggling to escape his arms, as Ash had reflexively clamped down when she turned to run. “Bella! What's the matter with you? You need to come with me and meet the queen, you don't understand-”

“You don't understand!” She frantically yanked her arm away, turning and diving into the crowd. He moved along with her, keeping pace despite her desperate speed. 

“With a Breakthrough Skill, you are a strategic resource of the kingdom,” Ash informed her with all seriousness. “You have to meet the queen. It's not a request, it’s the law.”

Barking out a laugh, Bella kept going, her eyes on the doors in the distance. “Pretty sure it is a request, Ash. First off, you can't tell me to do anything. Secondly, I'm seventeen years old, and I'm pretty sure there's no law about people under eighteen needing to go serve the country if they have a Breakthrough Skill. Third, there is a law on the books which is going to potentially cost me my life.”

“A law? Are you a criminal?” Ash finally slowed down, falling behind her slightly. 

Bella shook her head in annoyance, looking back over her shoulder to call out, “No, but I'm bound by what my guardian decides for me until my birthday. I'm not supposed to be out tonight.”

Ash drew himself up. “You are most certainly supposed to be here, by the decree of the king.”

“She figured out a way around that. There was nothing that said I had to stay here. She brought me, then sent me home. You have to understand, she's not just cruel, she's a total…” Bella came to a halt, freezing in place as the merit the system had granted her suddenly made sense. She whirled around, “Ash. She's an actual Witch. The system gave me an achievement just now for not giving in to her dark powers, and I didn't understand it until just now. You need to help me. Bring an entire unit of soldiers to find me. Please. Figure out how to help me, and I'll find a way to repay you.”

“How am I supposed to-” 

Before Ash could finish his thought, Bella pulled off one of her shoes and stuffed it into his hands. “It's Enchanted; it'll always find its way back to me. Oh! My name is Isabella Vigatori, of House Vigatori. She keeps me in the cellar.”

Then she turned and ran, leaving the startled man behind her holding a shining shoe. 

Bella's heart was pounding like a drum as she rushed through the huge entrance hall of the castle, her uneven footsteps echoing off the hard surfaces each time her right foot came down, and the single slipper clattered against stone. Thankfully, the servants saw her coming, opening the door enough to allow her to burst through without slowing down. At the bottom of the stairs awaited her Fairy godmother, impatiently tapping her foot as she waited for Bella to make a reappearance. 

“Start going!” Bella shouted out as she raced down the marble stairs. “I'm late! I’m so sorry!”

“Hyah, Descartes!” Bibbidy snapped her fingers, and the horse started trotting away. Bella rushed in just before it picked up too much speed, the door slamming behind her as she threw herself into the moving vehicle. “Quickly, my dear, tell me what happened. I know you wouldn't be late if you had your own way.” 

Bella tearfully filled her godmother in as the carriage raced through the city, the bell of the clock tolling to signal that it was already half past midnight. Panic filled the young woman as they thundered along, swerving around corners with the wheels rattling violently against the cobblestone. “-he handed me a glowing ‘X’ and… time just zipped by. My Breakthrough Skill awakened-”

“You already have your-” Bibbidy closed her mouth with a tiny *click*. “Sorry, finish your tale!” 

She did just that, even explaining the system merits she’d earned and what they must have meant. When Bibbidy heard about the Incorruptible Youth merit, she went pale and seemed just shy of nauseous. The Godmother lurched forward and threw her arms around Bella. “My poor, poor sweet girl. I had no idea it was that bad.”

“I always knew she was a terrible person.” Bella's muffled voice came from where her mouth was buried in Bibbidy’s shoulder.

Shaking her head, Bibbidy leaned back and met Bella's eyes with her own. “It's far worse than that, my sweet. I've told you that I’m a Fairy, which means I have maximized my positive reputation with the system. A Witch is diametrically opposed to me. They've taken their class, their gifts from the system, and twisted them toward dark purposes. The system is neutral, granting power for achievements no matter how wonderful or terrible they might be. However, where my rewards are things that will better myself, my community, my kingdom, the world… hers will always work against that.”

Bella's eyes went wide. “Godmother, before the ball, she started dropping off packages in unsavory locations. I think she has something terrible planned.”

Bibbidy nodded sharply, though she patted Bella gently and stepped away. “Of course she does. By the way, now that the system has confirmed her status for you, telling people she's a Witch will not be reputation destruction—it'll just be the truth. You cannot be magically punished for telling the truth. Just so you know. Now, let's get you out of those nice clothes and into something much filthier.”

As the streets blurred past them, finally giving way to open countryside, Bella exchanged her beautiful, shining dress and glass slipper for the mud-stained servant’s dress she’d arrived in. At Bibbidy’s insistence, she sat on the nicely cushioned seat and fretted about dirtying it. As the minutes sped by, and the horse galloped as fiercely as it could for the sustained jaunt, the tension in the carriage continued to increase. 

Bibbidy made some light conversation, asking questions about the ball, as well as assuring Bella that she would be returning to the palace immediately upon dropping Bella off. “There's no way I'm leaving you in there, and I'm a Fairy. They'll have no choice but to believe me. It's just… it might take a while for them to mobilize. Taking down a true Witch is no mean feat, and they’ll want to bring out the powerhouses.”

“Please, as long as I know I'm not going to be left there, I can hold out as long as I need to,” Bella bravely swore to her godmother, though internally, she wasn't so sure. “I've always thought she was evil, and now that I know I'm right, what actually changes? I just need to keep my head down.”

“Just don't do anything to give her cause to hurt you.” Bibbidy fretted suddenly, tears in her eyes as she took Bella's hand. “I couldn't bear to live with myself if I had to leave you, and you weren't there when I came to pick you up. You're safe until your birthday… or, at least she can't do anything outside the scope of her authority to you without the kingdom collapsing in on her with their weapons drawn.”

They began approaching the estate, which Bella only knew because her godmother let her know. The carriage didn't slow, and the surroundings were utterly alien, foreign to the young woman who had spent the vast majority of her life in one small area.

Then, all at once, the carriage lurched as they skid to a halt, and Bibbidy threw the door open. “Go, Bella! There's no time!” 

Bare feet hit the grass, and Bella rushed down into the ditch next to the road. For a few frantic moments, she couldn't find the tunnel opening in the darkness, but luckily a high-pitched *squeak* drew her to the hidden entrance. “Suzy! What’re you doing all the way out here? An owl is going to scoop you up for breakfast!”

*Squeak!* 

“You're right, no time to talk.” Bella dove into the tunnel, pushing through as quickly as she dared. Approaching the halfway point, she tensed, waiting to run into a barrier that would spell her doom. Instead, she found that section in particular had been reinforced with a lattice of sticks, as though dozens of birds had built a sideways, sturdy nest. She squeezed through without even brushing against the walls, showing how much work the creatures had been doing in her absence. 

The end of the tunnel was in sight, and she squeezed her way up and into the room with a sigh of relief. “I made it in time, didn't I?”

Just before she could pull her foot out of the tunnel, a strange tingling settled into her toes—as though they had fallen asleep. It was unnatural, instant, magical. Bella's head swam, and she nearly vomited as she realized the clock must have just ticked over, and Matringa would be alerted to the fact that she was ever so slightly outside of her room.

“No…” Her eyes darted to and fro, trying to think of a solution. After a handful of minutes spent panicking, she woozily shook her head and focused on the one thing she could do. “I need… I need to save them. She'll hunt every last one of them down.”

Swallowing hard to moisten her throat, Bella tried to sing, only to need to force herself to clear her throat when the words wouldn't come. Finally, she managed a croaking song, which was slightly distorted by her tears. “Fluffy friends, heed my call! Through this tunnel escape, one and all! Run and flee to safety's arms, far from danger, far from harm!”

A trickle of animals quickly became a flood as every mouse in the house left, some more reluctantly than others. Hedgehogs, voles, Stella the skunk, every creature that had to walk on the ground to escape the estate came in, went down, and vanished.

*Squeak.” Bella's attention was drawn to Mert the Third, who was standing on his hind legs next to Suzy. The little mouse was glaring at her defiantly, shaking his little head.

“I know you're brave, little one.” Bella forced a smile onto her face and crouched down. “But right now, I need you to listen. I have certain protections… but you have nothing but me, and I can't do anything for you right now. I know you want to protect me, but please… don't make me watch you die.”

Ever so slowly, the mouse bobbed his little head and started helping Suze the mouse back into the tunnel, even as she resisted slightly. When the last of the creatures had finally vanished, and nothing in the house was stirring, certainly not even a mouse, Bella pressed on the edge of the tunnel as hard as she could. 

The ground where the tunnel was buried began to sink, the soil shifting and mounding inward slightly before fully collapsing, as it was intended to do. Dust blew out of the opening in a huge gust, causing Bella to turn her head and close her eyes. When she opened them and turned back, there was only a shallow depression where the tunnel entrance had been only moments before. A spark of inspiration struck, and she grabbed one of her hidden water skins, pouring it into the space to make a shallow puddle. 

“Now all I need to do is get Matringa’s dress as clean as possible and make it look like I was working… not working to escape.”