Status: Updated :)
Holly POV
After looking around for a while longer we walked out of the cottage. Night had fully fallen and the tall trees casted their ominous shadows onto the ground below. I looked up through the trees to look at the starry sky... stars. I've... I've never seen stars in real life before and I almost missed them. I smiled a little as I've only seen stars in drawings in old novels I used to steal from the more wealthy people of the Isle. I even saw the moon, now that I had seen before, but never so bright.
Who knew the moon could cast such a bright light? I sure didn't, it looks so beautiful with the dark blue background and the stars complimenting it too. Gee, all these royal bastards have kept this all to themselves for all this time?
Harry saw that I was looking up and looked up with me as the tension in the surrounding air only grew thicker like a dense smog. It bothered me a lot, but how could I focus on that when the stars are twinkling? I didn't know stars twinkled either, it's like they're talking to each other by blinking back and forth in a language unbeknownst to us. Harry glanced over to me as I kept my concentration on the stars before looking back up, we both silently appreciated the dark sky for a few moments before looking back ahead.
By the rising second, the tension was growing, and I could not figure out why. Maybe we're about to be attacked? That doesn't sit right with me whatsoever, I took a long sigh and looked to the people around me with high suspicion. Ben looked back to all of us for a moment and stared at me for a moment or two more, narrowing his eyes as he seemed to analyze my face for whatever reason. Maybe he thinks I look like Mal? It would make sense, we are sisters. We do look alike to a point that's for sure, but a swift glare later and he turned his attention right back to Mal,
"You're gonna have to tell me how you got so many people out of the Isle to help"
Ben said with an uneasy tone before turning back around to look at me again. I flashed him a harsher glare to basically tell him to quit it and made him turn around again,
"Actually Mal promised to get all of the kids that wanted to off the Isle!"
Evie said, sounding rather excited about the whole thing. I am too, to be honest. I'm not exactly an innocent, but there are plenty of kids who are on the Isle that don't deserve such a cruel and miserable environment. I know for a fact that if I didn't grow up on the Isle I would have come out far... different I guess. Ben furrowed his brow and looked at Mal with a very confused expression that put me off,
"Oh really?"
He said, he spoke as if he had not a clue of what Mal was talking about. That worried me, it worried me more than it should have,
"I need to tell you guys something"
Mal seemed to blurt out as she turned around and faced us all. The group as a whole stopped walking, the smog of tension grew almost suffocatingly thick in the air,
"That bad feeling is hella strong now"
I whispered to Harry as I saw Mal's eyes brimming with tears. He glanced down to me to see my worry and I looked up at him for a moment before looking back to Mal and raising a brow at her,
"I lied to all of you"
It hit me. I knew it. This was way too good to be true. Mal's always been a two-faced conniving snake, I should have known better than to trust her, I can already tell that was a mistake. Jay spoke up,
"What do you mean?"
"We aren't taking any new kids off the Isle. The programs shut down, we're actually planning on closing the barrier forever, for Auradon's safety"
My heart sank. My hopes for... I don't even know what plummeted. Who am I kidding, I know what I was hoping for... I wanted to be free.
I have always simply hoped to be free, the barrier suppressed my magic and powers and now that I'm in Auradon I realize how dull it made me. No wonder I was so tired all the time on the Isle, no wonder my dad was worried about me when I wouldn't leave my room because I was exhausted, the barrier basically sucks the life out of me. Ever since I stepped out of the barrier I felt so much more... alive. I never knew what it felt like to be alive until now, and as the tears began to sting my eyes with anger and sadness mixing into a deadly cocktail in my veins, I tried to formulate the words... the ones that were on the tip of my tongue that I wished to speak to Mal so badly. I took a breath and fought the tears that would show my weakness and spoke with a bitter tongue, all while Harry put an arm around me and pulled me close to him. It made me feel a little better,
"How could you..."
I said, my voice cracking and my eyes flickering from blue to grey, my temper ripping at me trying to get out of hand. The ember inside my soul longed to stay free, my soul itself wished to stay free... Mal promised me she would free me one day, but the day never came and now she says she wants to lock me and my family in that hell hole for all eternity?! No fucking way she won't,
"... lie to me like that... three times now..."
I was trying my best to keep my anger under control but I couldn't keep it in anymore. I was absolutely fuming, literally. I was shaking as I attempted to keep my own feelings at bay, but there was no containing the fire in me,
"...HOW COULD YOU LIE TO ME?! AGAIN? YOUR OWN DAMN-"
I stopped. I promptly stopped and angrily walked from Harry's comfort and right up to Mal, a murderous expression carried in my cold glare. I stood right in front of her now, only inches away from her face as I prepared myself to expose both of us,
"... your own damn sister!"
My voice continued to crack, but I didn't care. Mal's eyes went wide as I ratted both of us out on our dirty secret, we are each other's dirty secret. All my friends hate Mal, all Mal's friends hate me, but we're cut from the exact same fucking cloth. I heard a few gasps behind me but didn't bother to look,
"Holly please, I was going to give you the option to stay here!"
Mal said as her voice cracked as well. I stepped back some and shook my head. Now that I have a full family on the Isle it's not just about me, it's about the fact that Mal has just... betrayed me and everyone I... I love. It's hard for me to admit it but I love Uma, I love my dad, and hell... I think I even love Mr. Pain-In-The-Ass Harry Hook. Even little errand rat Celia holds a special place in my despicable heart,
"AND LEAVE THEM?!"
I shouted, pointing back to Uma, Harry, and Celia as I did,
"I would never abandon them. Unlike you"
I growled with a tone of vegneance. I turned away from her to see everyone's jaws dropped and eyes wide as they watched the now family drama go down,
"Holly, I'm so sorry I've left you there in the past but this is me not leaving you again! I want to get to know you like the good old days! Remember back then? We were so close-"
"THESE AREN'T THE GOOD OLD DAYS! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU OR THE STUPID GOOD OLD DAYS..."
I screamed, fists so clenched that my nails were digging into my skin. My breathing was heavy as I tried to contain the tears that would weaken me,
"...I HONESTLY THOUGHT I DID BUT IF YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME OR THE PEOPLE I LOVE BACK THERE THAN I HAVE NO INCLINATION TO CARE ABOUT YOU! I'M DONE TRYING FOR YOU! I'm done! I'm SO fucking done!"
I screamed in her face. I felt a pair of hands land on my shoulders. I turned around and saw Harry, looking at me with... sympathy. I looked at him and walked past him as there was no hug or warm embrace that could calm me down now. I bumped into his shoulder as I went and walked in circles, pacing and trying to keep myself under control, but Mal persisted,
"Holly-"
"QUIT IT!"
My magic snapped, the ember inside my system erupted. My hair lit on fire full on and my eyes were a fiery sapphire blue. My breathing was uneven and rapid, like my body was trying to catch up with the emotions ruling over my actions,
"I am ashamed to call you my sister. You obviously don't act like one, do you? You only care about yourself! Your life! Your precious princess kingdom! While we are all suffering and waiting for a stupid letter to come to stupid Auradon you are sipping tea and eating strawberries like you're better than us! Like you're better than me! You're not. I don't lie to the people that care about me..."
I turned away from her so she wouldn't see my sadness peering out into my eyes as it began to be too much for me to take,
"... do you know how many times I have tried to be there for you? COUNTLESS. I have tried to be part of your gang, I have tried to get you to live with me and dad, hell I even tried coming to Auradon to try to help a kingdom that's never helped me. Auradon kicked me to the curb along with every other person on the Isle, but I tried to help for you! And what do I get? Nothing from you. No effort. No nothing... just insults on top of insults!..."
I slowly turned back around to look at her now, the anger and sadness boiled in my blood as I was shaking to contain it any longer,
"... Why do you hate me? What did I ever do to you? What did ANYONE ON THE ISLE EVER DO TO YOU TO MAKE YOU DO THIS?!"
I turned back around and interlocked my fingers behind my head and took slow shaky breaths to control my anger, and my tears. I felt... broken for the third time now, this time I felt gutted too like I was completely empty. I closed my eyes and tried to hold it together as Harry had my back and continued my argument for me,
"And you! King Ben eh?..."
He took a long pause, hopefully to keep himself together. I say hopefully because I don't want to be the only one crying here,
"... yer probably just going ta throw us all back inside, again. Like we're nothin. Honestly, I was startin' ta actually like ya but now... yer not my king. I was... really gettin' used to this whole thing, ya know the fact that I can see the sky. I was startin' ta think about how nice it would be ta wake up everyday and... see the damn sky. I was wrong ta fantasize so quickly it seems.... Yer a bloody thief, one that stole meh chance at a normal life from meh"
Harry said in a tone I've never heard from him... he sounded... hurt, sad, betrayed. He turned sharply away from Ben and walked back to me as I opened my sparking eyes. He put his hands back on my shoulders and I looked up at him with sympathy in my eyes, he gave me the same look back which made me feel better for sure. Uma went and talked to Mal, further pushing my point, but I couldn't listen.
I felt heartbroken to be honest. I knew Mal hates me and hates the Isle for whatever reason but... she hates me and the Isle this much? Harry carefully massaged my shoulders slightly to calm me down which actually helped relieve some of my pent up tension. After that Celia even ranted to Mal, I slowly began to feel uneasy and unsteady, lightheaded even,
"I thought you were brave, turns out you're just a chicken. To much of a chicken to tell me that I'll never see my dad again!"
Then my hearing went away, replaced with a high pitched ringing. I looked up in confusion to see Celia take the ember from Mal and drop it into a birdbath, drop it into water. Uma looked back to me as it hit the water, her eyes wide.
It was like it all went in slow motion, the ember inside me knew what was going to happen too. My lightheaded uneasiness proved that to me. I just replayed the scene of the ember dropping into water for a moment before reality caught up to me, or should I say when the pain caught up to me.
I shrieked in intense pain as it felt as if someone just drove a sword right through my chest and fell into Harry. I couldn't help it, I grabbed onto Harry and held onto dear life. My eyes immediately dimmed and my hair went out on the spot. Harry caught me and supported me as my legs gave out, I looked down at my chest to see my entire body was violently shaking as if I had lost control of myself, all while I clung onto any part of Harry I could hold onto.
I looked up at Harry as if I was looking for some form of reassurance... I wanted him to help me.
I don't know how he could but I looked at Harry and pleaded with my eyes for the first time in my life. It was like I was begging him for mercy that he couldn't give me. But... Harry did look... scared. I noticed he was holding onto me... tightly... it made me feel a little better. He slowly brought me down to the ground as his eyes darted about, looking for the reason of my collapse,
"H-Holly? What's h-happening?"
Is he stuttering? Aww he's worried about me... well so am I so that's acceptable. I tried to speak, but not even that was feasible. Uma ran towards us and fell by my side, leading me to look over at her with the same pleading look. As I did I felt my lungs beginning to tighten, causing me to gasp for air,
"Holly?! Fuck fuck fuck!"
Uma muttered as I began to tremble, beginning to feel increasingly colder. I curled up a little and leaned into Harry as he was so much warmer than I. Everyone's heads shot to me but Celia didn't stop walking away, oblivious to what was happening in a blind rage. Harry protectively pulled me as close to him as he could get and had his arms securely around me which helped me pick up some of his warmth. Mal frantically went to the ember and picked it up,
"Regain your might and ignite!"
She screamed over and over again but I sadly knew it wasn't that easy,
"T-That's not g-going t-to work"
I said as my voice as cracking so much it sounded like it was practically breaking. Mal looked to me and ran over to me and was just about to check on me too when I moved away from her as best as I could and curled into Harry more,
"Don't t-touch m-m-me"
I said harshly as she was about to crouch down. She stood up all the way and recoiled her hand with a trembling bottom lip and tears running down her cheeks. I closed my eyes for a few minutes and eventually began to stand up shakily. I had to pry myself from Harry's warm craddling as he tried to keep me down,
"H-Holly? W-What are y-ya doing?"
Harry trembled as he tried to hold onto me still, but I got up against his will as he didn't fight me too harshly. Maybe he was scared he would hurt me more... that would be nice of him,
"I don't w-want you guys to see me like t-this, don't f-follow me... p-please... for my s-sake"
I said quietly to Harry and Uma. I stumbled past them all and kept falling into trees to stay standing, but Harry followed me. He held his hand out to me and tried to get me to take it and come back,
"Lassie p-please don't do this, y-yer not well-"
I shook my head and turned away from his hand. I looked ahead and closed my eyes and hung my head down,
"Harry... I'd be lying if I t-told you that I'm fine but I d-don't want y-you to worry about m-me, there a-are more important things, f-for instance, I'd like to go make s-sure Celia is a-alright"
I said without turning to him, but part of me really wanted to,
"Holly... love please..."
He said with his voice cracking too. He... he called me what? Did he just call me... love? He's never called me... love before. I felt a little warmer than I did before, making me feel a little better for a moment or two. I glanced back at him to see him crying. I've never seen Harry cry before either. Even Uma was on the brink of tears,
"I'm s-sorry, this j-just won't be p-pretty"
Is the last thing I said before using some of my remaining power to send smoke in their direction to blind them so they didn't have to watch me stumble away and so they couldn't see what direction I went in. I can't stand to see the people I care about in pain because of me.
I looked up to the sky as I wandered away, my friends calling to me from behind the smoke screen that they could not see through. The sky had filled with dark clouds now and thunder occassionally filled my ears and lightening lit up the sky. The stars were gone... I'm gonna die without being able to see the stars again...
... I'm gonna die... without seeing my dad again...... I'm gonna die all alone...
A/N
Hiya! This chapter is kinda the heaviest it gets, welcome to seeing why being half ember is a bad thing sometimes lads and lassies, and why we shouldn't give important things to Mal, the just get wrecked. Remember to stay hydrated as always!
-Brooke