Chapter 14: Final Day

Liam and Holly become friends. A new threat arrives!

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Chapter 14 Final Day Liam steps onto the floor and exits his room. It was the same as the other night. Charlotte was guarding the doors. Liam strolls to Charles' room and prepares to knock, but before he can, Charlotte interrupts. He's gone. Liam turns to her. I guess that means you get to stay. The floor is cold, Liam thought. He walks over to Charlotte and asks, Why did you want us to fight? I was interested in Molly. He seems strong, but he's not the brightest. Liam chuckles nervously. If you really are the one to save the world, you have no faith in me. He frowns. Molly is too ignorant of his powers. It'll either cause the world's demise or yours. She smiles widely as Liam sags in despair. If you're looking for Holly, she's out back. I can't just leave without saying anything, Liam thought. I have to defend Molly. Sure, he has his flaws, but he says, I believe in him. Charlotte chuckles. Belief doesn't tame. It feeds. Depending on the amount, it either collapses or withers away. Yours is sure to do one or the other. They always do. You're wrong, Charlotte. Charlotte snaps her neck at him and replies, then prove it. Liam's eyes contracting fear. You don't know as much as me. Your powers will steal the fate of this world. That's what I'm told. But nobody has told me why I should be me. Why should I save the world? Charlotte winces. Well what happened if I don't? You destroy the world just for your own ego? No. Liam gazes at his palms. I just want to see my girlfriend. That's all. I don't want to stop my own life for someone else's. What about Frida? Isn't she important to you? Liam ponders on that thought. He was stuck. The very thought of Frida being harmed caused his face to shake in anguish as his fist hardened. Charlie gives a cheeky smile and replies Yeah. Didn't think about that, did ya? If I have to, I'll step in. But the world is on its own if it doesn't. I have priorities, and I won't let anything get in my way. With that, Liam takes his leave to the back exit. Holly is leaning against the railing of the balcony. She stares at the full moon as Liam quietly approaches her. She says, I apologize for Charlotte. She turns to him. She could be a real pain in the neck. No need to apologize. Liam nervously shouted. She didn't need to do that. She turns back to the moon. She always goes too far with every situation. That's why I don't allow her to use my body. How does she go too far? Holly stares at Liam with a puzzled face and asks, Did you not see what she just did? She made Chow leave. I swear, she's why I don't have friends now. What happened before? Liam asks. Believe it or not, I used to have plenty of friends. They either left me or died when Charlotte got involved. D Died! Holly frowns and replies, I'm sorry. I should have told you earlier. I understand if you don't want to be my friend. There's a slight pause. Then Liam breaks the silence by saying, You don't scare me, Holly. He smiles at her. I like you, and I want to be your friend. R really? Holly acts in disbelief. Liam nods his head as she admits. Nobody's ever taken the initiative to be my friend. It's always been me. Holly sits at a lunch table. She places her lunchbox next to another girl's raggedy lunch bag. The girl gathers her things and walks away from the table. Charlotte jumps onto the table and asks, licking herself, Why do you try so hard to be friends that you're above? Why can't we be friends? Holly asks back. Charlotte stops looking and replies Because you're better than them. Just because my mom is rich doesn't mean I'm better. Oh no, that's not the reason, Holly. It's because you have something they don't. You have me. Holly stares in shock at a building in flames. The screams of the innocent echo loudly as a young girl turns to her and says with a crazy smile I did it! I did it Holly! Holly, Liam shouted. She shakes her head, gazes at Liam, and replies, I'm sorry. I got stuck in a trance there. Liam holds his hand out and asks, Wanna be friends? When I was fifteen years old, Holly thought. I've killed people. I stole from others. I caused billions of damage to infrastructure. And now the savior of the world wants to be my friend? Do I deserve it? Holly grabs Liam's hand firmly and says with a smile. Why would I say no? They stand awkwardly, holding each other's hands until Liam asks. So how do people actually become friends? I don't know. They talk about each other's likes? Holly answers with an uncomfortable smile. You can go first since you're younger. Really? How old are you? You're not supposed to ask that, Holly said with a straight face. They both sit on the floor and talk to each other. Meanwhile, Frida lays on her bed. She stares intently at the stale ceiling. Suddenly, Gilda asks, Who are you? Frida doesn't answer. So Gilda answers for her. A captive to nostalgia and hopelessness. You are the fate of your mother, but you only carry burden to the table. A sad creature with wistful hopes, disappointing actions. You are not worthy to hold my power. Do you ever shut up? Frida sits up from her bed. You shove nonsense down my throat. But never consider how I feel about anything. You're selfish, Gilda. Maybe if you shut up and actually did something, I would be capable of accomplishing my goal. Until you could do that? Shut up. Frida leaves Gilda in the room and joins Liam and Holly outside. Liam waves and shouts Hi Frida She frowns and approaches them. What's wrong? She stops. You talk to Gilda? Holly asks, but Frida didn't respond. Oh, I understand. Sit with us. Frida sits with her legs crossed and acts. Who are you two talking about? We were just talking about Liam's likes. Did you know he had a pig? Frida continues the question. Yes. Really? I grew up with him. I know almost everything about him. Everything? Huh. Holly stands. She stretches her back and tells them. I wasn't gonna share this with y'all. But but I guess it doesn't matter now that the panda is gone. Huh? Liam asks. Share what? Holly gazes at him, smiles, and answers. It's about the prophecy of mixed hair. Lemmy used an ability called Heart to defeat Petrell. What's heart? Holly shrugs her shoulders and replies. Beats me. I never achieved it. What? Then how do you know about it? I've heard stories, but every kana user can use heart. I've heard that heart is the combination of a person's will and their kana. This allows the person to transcend to a higher level to accomplish their purpose. It's hard to reach, so maybe that's why I never attained it. Never attained it, Ryan repeated with a laugh. She strolls to them and says, You shouldn't tell people that. It could get you killed. Don't underestimate me. I may not know heart, but it doesn't make me weak. Is that how you paid off your bounty? Holly chuckles. No. I actually paid it off with the prismatic gem from the Jewel Islands. Ryan's smile fades. She stares at Holly in brief silence until Liam breaks it, saying, The Jewel Islands. That's where I'm going. Ryan darts her eyes at Liam, but he's not paying attention to her. Holly asks, Really? Is that where your girlfriend lives? Yeah. Ryan continues to stare as their conversation turns into white noise. She hyperventilates and slightly chuckles. Her hands tremble as she thinks to herself No way. It was this easy. I gotta Are you okay, Ryan? She gazes at Frida, who continues, you've been staring a little too long. Holly and Liam, look at Ryan. Sorry, Ryan chuckled nervously. I'm looking for that, Jim. I just got a little excited, is all. Oh? Holly said. I can send you on your way then. There's not much more I can teach you guys anymore. She leans on the railing. I gotta say, you guys have been the most interesting people I've encountered in a while. Charlotte walks outside and reports It's midnight. He's still not back. Ugh. I guess I should go to sleep. Who's not back? Liam asks. Dane went to the city to buy groceries. He should have been back by now. He must be trying to save money again. Holly sighed. Let's call it a night. As Liam lays on the floor of Frida's bedroom, she says to him Thanks for sleeping with me. No problem. Liam asks. Is everything okay? I'm sorry, Liam. I have to leave you. What? Why? It's hard to explain. Frida said, holding her tears back. Liam turns to his side away from her bed. In Wonderland. Molly sits against the cherry blossom tree, as Liam slowly approaches him. He asks Molly, Are you okay? Why is she leaving? Molly asks in return. I don't know. Don't want her to leave, Liam. We have to do something. Molly stands in frustration. Molly, I understand you're upset, but you can't control her. She needs us. Not at this moment, Molly. She made her choice. Liam places his hand on Molly's shoulder. We have to respect it, or you may hurt her. It's not fair. Molly looks down in disappointment. I know. But it'll work out in the end. I promise. Liam hugs Molly. Meanwhile, Frida stares at the ceiling, unable to sleep. I'm sorry, Liam, she thought. She gets out of the bed and dresses herself. She opens the door, gazes back at Liam sleeping, and continues I have to go now. She exits and closes the door. She walks through the front doors and leaves without saying a word to Charlotte. She chuckles. I can't believe I'm doing this. It's for the best. I'm making the right choice. I'm gonna avenge my aunt. I don't need his love anyway. Meanwhile, Ryan stares at a world map that's across her bed. The jewel islands were right there. Finally I found it. Charlotte perks up. Suddenly, Holly hears her voice. Wake up. Holly sits up and rubs her eyes. Someone is approaching the palace. Holly stands and replies What? What time is it? She makes her way inside and towards Charlotte. It's probably Dante. No. This is not Dante. Who else would it be? Nobody else knows we're up here. Holly stands next to Charlotte. She yells Dante, you'd better have a good reason for being so late. What are you doing? That's not him. Charlotte screamed. Charlotte, you need to chill out. Holly loses her breath and trembles at the sight of her familiar face. Her eyes contract, and her skin goes pale. Holly stares at the woman. Oh Holly Hood, the woman said as she stops at the doorway. You look great Holly stumbled. The woman holds up a severed hand and throws it at Holly's shoes. Holly glances at it and cries in disbelief. Totty I come for someone. Holly focuses her attention to the woman, who continues. Where's the runt? Alright. Welcome to the author's room for chapter 14, final day. There's a lot to unpack here. I this is kind of like Holly's chapter, where she is like feeling a little bit guilty about what she has done in her past. I haven't said this before, but I did change it. I had it at first that she started the revolution, but she was dragged into it, honestly. And she was. I changed that in the later chapters too. Uh, she was really dragged into it, and that's what I like meant to convey, but I accidentally made it seem like she started it, and it was not like that. Liam and Holly have a conversation, they talk for a while and they become friends. Holly goes in to say like how whenever Charlotte gets involved with things, the people she it are or is friends with always seem to distance themselves away from her, either distance or they die, right? And so because that's the whole point, Charlotte is uh how do I say almost like bad luck, almost like that. She does not she doesn't like making friends, she doesn't believe in that. Like I said before, that's not Charlotte's thing, and because Charlotte believes that Holly is better, Holly is better than most people, and so they're Charlotte has like this ego, this ego that egotistical look that no one else in the story has, but she believes that Holly is better, and Holly doesn't even believe that. She's putting like nonsense in his in her mind, saying, Oh, you're better than everyone than them. And it's like, just because my mom is rich does not mean that I'm better. And it's like, no, that's not the reason why, Holly. You're better because you have me, so she's like, I'm better, I'm the better aspect of you, basically. So that's why she doesn't really have that many friends. Um, this building in flames thing, this does come out later in the book, so that's very important. Just remember that. Liam does ask Holly, how old is she? Uh, I didn't give a definite age for her. She's around 30 years old. Around 30. Uh, I wanted to make it seem like she was a little bit mature, but still inexperienced in some way. That's why she doesn't know how to use heart. And that's the ability that helped Lemon defeat petrol. And yes, heart does come up later in this book. It is very important. It is a heart is a combination of a person's will and their kana. So remember that. Uh, we'll explain it later on in the story, but just remember that. Uh, you have this little scene here where uh Ryan really wants to find that gem from the islands, right? Ryan was kind of a last-minute character, I'm not gonna lie to you, but she isn't she is important to the story, she's important. Uh you'll see why she's looking for that gem in the next chapter. Is it is in the next chapter. And I feel like I made her character perfect. I did. Because you'll see. I'll explain in the next chapter, explain in the next chapter why uh Ryan is here. Dane or Dante. Dante went to the city to buy groceries, doesn't come back, doesn't come back, and this woman comes back with his hand. Uh Dante's dead. Dante's gone. He's gone. So that's just I didn't put too much details right there because but it's kind of obvious. Like he's he's gone, man. He's not coming back. Who is this woman? You will find that out in the next chapter. She is looking for Liam, so that is not good. You'll figure that out in the next chapter. But obviously, she does have a connection to Holly because she recognizes, they recognize each other. And Holly gets uh she gets scared when she sees him, when she sees her, sorry. So it's gonna it's a good chapter, next chapter. Um just be excited for chapter 15. It's a really good chapter. Alright. Thank you for listening. I'll see you next week for this exciting new chapter next week.