And it all Went Wrong

P A R T | 7

CRESS FIDDLED WITH HER HAIR, even with its short length. She ran her fingers through it over and over again, trying to calm herself. Despite its shortness, it was still filled with knots, and her fingers got stuck several times.

They're fine, she reminded herself as her baby blue eyes surveyed the sea of Lunars around her, standing outside the palace gates. She had to try hard not to tremble, not to run away from the crowd and hide behind a large moon rock. Or in a crater, except she wouldn't be able to get out of one with her height.

All she could see were heads and backs, signs in the air, and she heard words being yelled at Queen Levana, although she couldn't hear them. Or maybe she could, and she was watching each and every one of them at the moment. Maybe she had already located her, the shell that was supposed to be dead. Maybe her end was already nearing.

Her head whipped to the left, where a short man, shorter than her, was yelling with his fist pumping in the air. "For Justice!" he yelled, as he made his way to the front of the crowd, which wasn't too far away, and ran up to a standing guard. He punched the imposing Lunar, and was killed shortly after in return. Cress gasped and jumped back at the sound of the bullet. It could happen at any moment to any of them.

She swallowed, and closed her eyes. She was a brave soldier in a war, and those guards were simply ancient Roman statues, used to intimidate with their realistic features. They weren't real, and as long as the gates-- the wall-- didn't burst open, they would be fine. Because they were just statues.

But statues weren't supposed to be able to kill.

Her eyes snapped open and she heard another scream stand out from the rest. "Long live Princess Selene!"

There was a silence in the crowd, everybody stopping their protests. One heartbeat, two heartbeats, then it happened. As if on cue, at the same time, everyone screamed back, "Long live Queen Selene!"

Cress swallowed and played with her hands before pulling out her portscreen. She looked up and stood on the tips of her toes to look at Wolf, who was standing at the front, elevated by some stairs. He hadn't been killed, despite the fact he was only three feet from a guard. If they didn't know who he was, it would seem to one that he was against them.

Cress went back to her port and quickly sent him a comm. She looked back up to see him fetching out his own, reading what she had sent him; a simple question. His emerald eyes searched the crowd until they locked on her own and she tried to appear smaller out of habit. He shook his head with a shrug, before going back to his crossed arms position. Cress let out a sigh, impatient. They hadn't contacted him, why were they taking so long? It was a large possibility that the large thousand-people group wouldn't last much longer. The guards up front were loosing their temper, and it frightened Cress.

She hummed under her breath in an attempt to calm herself, but lost control once again when she saw Wolf take out his port again. She saw as his eyes widened as he read the comm, and Cress' heartbeat picked up speed. What if something had gone wrong?

Oh, stars. Something had gone wrong, hadn't it?

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on her heart beating to calm herself again. This wasn't real, she was just in a net-drama with a very thrilling and suspenseful, complicated plot.

Cress looked up to see Wolf running down the stairs. She saw with amusement as the crowd quickly parted for him, obviously intimidated by the large Lunar special operative. He stopped in front of her, panting, his eyes wilder than usual. It seemed as if he was stuck between smiling and howling in pain. "They have her," he breathed.