The Strength In Her Scars

== Preface ==
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦. 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘩𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐 𝘩𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 '𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳'. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘩𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 '𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧'. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴
𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦. 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦? 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸.
== 1 ==
=== Paper Butterflies ===
Nightmares twisted through my dreams,pulling me farther away from reality.
"You're weak, Biana Vacker. I'm only showing that to everyone else." she stated, almost as if she knew me. But she doesn't. She doesn't. 
"I'm not weak!"I wanted to cry out, I wanted to tell her that no matter what, she couldn't ruin me. Never. But I was. I was weak and useless.
"Oh, Biana, you could have been such a valuable asset. But of course, you have chosen your side." She said, poising the dagger to attack. 
"I have." I say, gritting my teeth and preparing for the pain. She smiled and brought the dagger down on my arm. Pain jolted up my arm.
"As I said, weak." She says. I kick her in the face. Hard. Vespera glares at me. "So I haven't broke your spirit yet," she snarled. "But I promise you, I will." 
By now I have her dagger, which had flown from her grasp when I kicked her, in my hand. "You won't." I say defiantly. She lunges for the dagger, and I gasp when my hand instinctively slices her face. Her hand flies to her face and touches the blood. She reaches for me but I roll away. I notice the trail of blood I leave behind. She pulls the dagger from my hand and looks down at me. 
"Goodbye, Vacker." And she throws the dagger at the mirror above my head. The last thing I hear is shattering glass as the shards fall on top of me. 
"No!" I scream, sitting up in my bed. The doors to my room open a few moments after. 
"Biana! Are you okay? What happened?" I look into my mothers worried eyes.
"I'm fine...It was just a nightmare." I say. But It was more like a memory. I wanted to add on. She hugs me close to her. 
"Oh, Biana, I'm so sorry!" She says with teary eyes.
"You have nothing to be sorry about." I say, trying not to look into her eyes. "I just had a nightmare." 
"What was the nightmare about?" She asks,her eyes glancing at my scars for a moment. I hesitate before answering.
"It was nothing. I'm fine." I look away and reach for Lady Sassyfur, who had been flung off the bed during my sleep.
Della traces a hand down my deepest scar. The one that had been hurting me most, both mentally and physically. 
"You can tell me anything, Biana." she finally says. 
"I don't have anything to tell." I respond, still avoiding her gaze. She smiles weakly.
"Okay Biana, I get it." She gives me another hug and stands up to leave.
"Thank you." I whisper, but she has already left.
=== ༺❀༻ ===
Shimmering snow falls outside in the morning. Neither me nor Della mention last night's events. But she does eye me worriedly when I come downstairs for breakfast.  Fitz grabs a blitzenberry muffin and grins at me.
"Finally we get to do school again! I can't wait to hang out with-" He stops short. 
"Who?" I inquire, raising my eyebrow.
He blushes, "No one." 
I roll my eyes, "I think you were going to say, Sophie."  
"No.." he says slowly. 
"Who then?" I ask, hiding my surprise perfectly. Even though they weren't dating, and haven't for a year, I thought he still had feelings for her.  
"Umm..I'm going to go get ready for school!" he blurts out, then rushes out of the room. I smile. Making Fitz nervous is my favourite morning activity.  I grab a custard burst and eat it delicately, avoiding my mother's gaze. Alden, oblivious to Della's worried demean, smiles, 'How was your sleep?"
I share a look with Mom. I could simply say 'No, I've been having nightmares every single night, and sometimes I wake up screaming because it's always her or it's always Sophie and it's always so hard'. Instead I just nod, watching a few crumbs fall onto my golden plate. 
Glancing at the time, I suppress a sigh and say "I have to go get ready for school.."
"Do you need any help?" Della asks almost instantly.
"No, I'm fine." I answer.
I walk up thestairs, lightly sliding my hand along the walls. In Fitz's room I hear a laugh and a voice I've never heard before. "Strange.." I mutter. I guess he's just hailing someone. A girl, from the sounds of it. When I reach my room, I push open the white wood door and head for the (rather large) closet. 
"Pink dress with purple kitten heels or, white dress with sapphire blue flats." I consider out loud, hopefully loud enough so Fitz can hear me. And whoever he is talking to. No response comes and I sigh. I pick up my school uniform. I normally don't wear it, instead just wearing my own, much prettier, clothes. But I'm far too tired to do that right now. I look in the mirror. My eyes are a duller teal than they used to be. I blink and shake my head. Reaching for my pin to fasten my cape, I pull my hand back as it pricks me. I must have forgotten to put the fastener back on. Red wells up on my fingertip, and to my dismay, it doesn't make me feel sick. It doesn't make me feel anything at all. I wipe the blood off on my cape and put pin my cape in place. Turning away from the mirror, a fluttering at the window catches my eye. 
I walk over and see its a butterfly. A paper butterfly, to be exact. I pluck it from its perch on the windowsill and examine it. Suddenly I drop it in fear. Because, wrote in clear handwriting on its wing, are the words: You're not safe, Biana...
== 2 ==
=== Pretending ===
I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine.
That's the internal chant that I try to convince myself of all day long. After all, the note was probably just a trick. Just a harmless little joke.
I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. 
Category:KOTLC
Category:Fanfiction
WIP
Category:Fantasy