Cinders Amidst the Deluge

The sky was smoldering from the thunderclouds above, then the rain poured down as if the heavens were also crying.

Moth slowly made his way back to the Garden, but his mind was still racing. He has killed many people. Dignitaries who step out of line, Philanthropists who extort too much from the people, abusers who deserve no mercy. But never has it crossed his mind that he would deal with 'traitors'.

"The rules of the Garden must stand; traitors must be punished." Those were the foundations laid bare by Scarab. It was stated in the rules. Moth had no other choice but to obey.

Why did he do it? Was there no peaceful way to resolve things?

"An order once given cannot be rescinded." But Moth was doubting himself. Was this really the only answer?

He didn't return to the Garden that night. Instead, he went to see the Doctor. The one exclusive to Cinderchildren. He wasn't feeling well, probably because he sustained damage from his own ability. His left arm was somewhat charred, and painful blisters began to form.

The Doctor was a kind young woman. She, too, was a member of the Garden, yet she did not serve the Emberwatch. Instead, she founded the place where most kids can practice recuperating and tending to wounds. Though she is still a dangerous individual. Afterall, the Garden raised them as such.

Before Moth could knock on the door, it suddenly opened, and The Doctor was already standing in front of the boy.

"Moth! So nice for you to drop by. I definitely did not smell your burnt flesh from my doorstep, oh no!" She said.

"Sorry to suddenly drop by without any notice, Dr. Maggie." Moth sighed as Maggie threw him a towel. Moth sat down on an unoccupied stool and began to dry his hair.

Maggie came back carrying a large trolley filled with an assortment of remedies and bandages.Maggie was gentle yet swift with her work. Her hands seem to glide around the syringe, bottle, skin, scissors, clothes, and such. Moth could feel a bit numb from the anesthetic, but he remained steadfast.

"You're an odd one, Moth." Maggie finally said after she started grinding out fresh nutmeg and extracting Aloe.

"How so?" Moth inquires with a blank stare.

"For one, you didn't wince when I poked you at least seven times, and you never showed any form of pain. Has the Garden already made you so cold?" Maggie brings up as she mixes the concoction together.

"I'm a monster, aren't I?" Moth sighs, and Maggie gives a laugh. Not a mocking one, but one of sympathy.

"Aren't we all? Soldiers of Padrino, cinderchildren of the Garden. No one's normal in that mansion, Moth." Maggie said. "Well, my daughter is there. It's been a while since I saw her. No doubt she'd be a Maggot too."

Moth remembers her. A girl similar to that of the Doctor, a bit younger than Caterpillar. But definitely there. Along with a boy with too much energy, a girl who can weave together a two-foot tapestry, and a boy who has a vocal range of a megaphone. Moth suddenly felt exhausted. The new recruits, should they survive, would be a nightmare to deal with.

Maggie was almost done with Moth's injuries when the door flew open. Moth bit back a groan to find a boy the same age as him, drenched in rainwater. His sapphire eyes gleamed in the gloomy clinic, and his medium black hair was puffy and standing all over.

"Bell, nice of you to join us. Any injuries that I need to take care of?" Maggie inquired, but Bell ignored her and walked towards Moth with a wide grin.

"What's this? You burnt yourself?" Bell gloated.

"Doctor, is that a talking raisin?" Moth gave Bell a once-over and focused on his own wound. But Bell kicked the medical trolley away. And Maggie only sighs and gets up.

"I'll leave you two be." She said and left to fetch the trolley that rolled away towards the foyer, making a loud bang when it hit the wall.

Bell, or to be precise, Diving Bell Spider, the name given to him by Padrino when he was the second to come out of the Rite of Purification. Moth came out first, and since then, Bell has it out for him.

They were the first two operatives in their batch, and they were sufficient separately, but put them together, and they are chaotic, unruly, and downright impossible to command. According to Moth:"Bell is a fool who fights in a frantic rage."

While according to Bell:

"Moth is a coward who stabs people in the back."

They both have different ways to approach a mission, Bell being the person who can extract information through physical methods, while Moth can expedite new knowledge by reading thoroughly before dispatching his targets. Which makes them polar opposites with one another.And whenever they are in one room together, chances are:

"That injury won't stop you, right?" Bell taunted, and water began to form from the moisture around them.

"It won't," Moth said coldly, but the atmosphere around them burned and smoldered.

But before they could duke it out, the glass shattered, and a bomb was set off. Sending the two boys flying away. Bell and Moth skidded across the floor and recovered. Moth was bleeding from the left side of his head, while Bell was bleeding through the nose.

"Truce?" Bell asked his palms brimmed with high-pressure water.

Moth only nods, and he propelled himself forward with a burst of dark orange flames. When he crashed through the window, he grabbed one from the head and stomped on another one's neck."M-monste-" Moth didn't let him finish as he engulfed them in flames, despite the rain pouring down, Moth's flames weren't dying out. He glanced as numerous armed men and women fell in line and pointed guns at him. But not before picking up a disheveled intercom from the ground.

"Careful! He's a cinderchild... Looks like the tip from those three was spot on." Moth heard
someone, a female voice.

So... The location of every facility of the Garden was leaked.

Moth clicked his teeth, and his right palm burned bright amidst the storm's wake. He made a firm grip on his palm, and a blaze of orange flames blossomed in the middle of enemy lines, creating a scorched "X" on the earth.

"That's Moth! Open fire!!" The woman's voice ordered, and they all released all bullets at will. But the rain slowed down, and the waters solidified to a wall of roaring waters.

Bell bursts out of the window, forming countless rain droplets into spears and launches it towards the militia. The waters pierced and lodged themselves on the assailers, but more took their place.

"Code names: Diving Bell Spider and Moth. Two Active Operatives of the Garden's Cinderchildren. Take them, I care not whether they come to me in chains or in a box." Moth heard the same woman's voice on the intercom.

"But Ma'am, how about the other locations?" A young man's voice asked.

"Squad Theta and Squad Epsilon are on their way. All Units, converge on our current location. We need all the firepower we have."

Moth sighs as he breaks the intercom. He glanced at Bell, who was having fun killing people.

"Something happened?" Bell asked when he noticed Moth pondering instead of fighting back.

"They'll converge here. It doesn't matter if we're brought dead or alive. The other locations are compromised." Moth informed Bell as he caught a bullet with his hand. "Get to the garden. Evacuate the others."

Bell gave him a gaping-mouthed reaction as he skewers someone with a water trident.

"While you supernova here? Not happening, Moth. Besides." Moth protected Bell by dropping on a militia's head. "... You can always fire off 'that'."

Moth sighs; he didn't want to do it, but it was for the Family. Moth focused flames across his left hand, and he fired a brightly colored flare. It may not mean anything to ordinary folk, but to the people who were raised with Moth, this signal means:

"May the cataclysm scorch and raze."