Chapter 30 - Shattered Mask

Something died in Holly that night.

Cris selfishly took a part of her with him to the afterlife. What it was she didn’t know. The allure of discovery was gone. She was just plain angry now.

There was part of her afraid of what she could do.

Especially given the sixteen apple seeds she now possessed. Bitter thoughts swirled in her head. Six words would be all it took for her to destroy a large city. She wasn’t sure how the solar ultimate worked without a Maestro. Would it take her life as the toll for the spell instead?

It was a dark curiosity, but one that didn’t live in her head for long.

Instead, her resentment was cast toward her kidnappers. She could have popped them like grapes and splattered their entrails all over that wooded trail.

Even at the peak of her wrath, she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t purposefully take a life. If the Scherzando got to them after she exacted her revenge, that was between them and god.

Holly sighed, curling up tighter. Alone she sat in her tiny room on the riverboat. She left Ralevi as soon as they’d let her board. She even abandoned her bag and spare clothes at the hotel. She couldn’t go back. If she had, she was afraid of breaking down.

Not that it saved her any grief.

She cried and cried and cried and cried until it hurt and beyond.

Now she was just tired. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t see herself finding enjoyment in anything anymore.

If only those fucking kidnappers had shown up before. The big Scherzando would have been so easy. When the fight got rough Artemis Arktoi would have dispatched the beast no sweat. When the beast attacked, L'oggetto Immobile would have made her invincible – the ultimate bait. When Cris got hurt, Frutetto del l’Avalon would have cured anything that ailed him.

Getting ultimate magic after it didn’t matter anymore; she wanted to chuck the little satchel in the river and figure out what to do next.

What did it even matter? She’d never get close to anyone again. This pain was unbearable.

---

Next her eyes opened it was from a tapping at her door.

“We’ve arrived at port! Please prepare to disembark!” shouted the voice on the other side.

“Arrived?” She blinked a couple of times to clear her vision. From the porthole above her, the light of morning shone through.

“I thought this was a five-day trip…” She rubbed her eyes. The plant got out of bed and hit the ground immediately. She felt awful, her entire body trembled, but her stomach didn’t offer any protest. As she touched her hair, she came to a realization. “It’s been five days.”

Her face smacked against the ground. “I hate living,” she grumbled.

It took the door getting forced open by the crew for her to get any nourishment. She barely remembered the fuss kicked up over her being face-down on the floor. What she did recall was the captain of the boat said he had visited a zalavan garden at one point and so he knew how to fix her.

With water and sun in her system, Holly went from the brink of death to unfortunately alive.

“You should have just thrown me in a dumpster,” Holly complained as she stared at the sun from her position on one of the deck chairs. Sadly her stupid plant eyes would never burn from the rays of the star she fed on.

“What happened to ya lass?” asked the captain.
“Watched my best friend get killed by a big Scherzando because his Maestro was a fucking idiot,” the plant spat.

She was surprised she spoke so freely, but it felt good being able to speak her mind for once. It was like she no longer cared what other people thought. It was nice.

“Ah, ya poor thing, I’ve lost many comrades to the Scherzando,” he said.
“Does it ever get easier?” Holly wondered.
“Not at all, but ya figure out how to carry on,” the captain rose from his own seat. “We’ll be cleaning below deck for a few hours. Feel free to stick around until ya get yer land legs back.”

And then she was alone, again. Always alone. So alone.

She hated it.

Why couldn’t it have been her to die out there? At one point she wanted it. At least if she had been the one to perish Cris wouldn’t have been alone. He wouldn’t have had to bear this pain alone. All alone. So alone.

Holly reached into her jacket, pulling out the satchel of apple seeds. She took one in hand and aimed a palm at the port. She could burn it all. Maybe she would feel something besides pain if she did.

She laughed hollowly. Of course not. It was never that easy.

“I want to do something.” She rose from the deck chair. From her perch on deck, she found an entire new city awaiting her. The Holly of a week ago would have been excited about all the new discoveries she could make. The Holly of the present didn’t give a damn. She was motivated for some reason, however. She couldn’t quite figure it out.

Through it all, one item remained with her – his bag. The keepsake that was now her most cherished possession. Mick probably would have attempted to fight her for it had she remained any longer. She would have made due on her promise if he tried.

“Alright, Holl’s let’s get the fuck out of here.”

---

Truthfully she didn’t know the name of this port town she ended up in. She just moped in her room until they told her to get out.

At least her zalavan biology meant a stroll around town was enough to keep her satiated; she didn’t think she’d have been up for sampling the local cuisine at that moment.

“Santo Cercido,” Holly read from a sign. “Never heard of it,” she decided after a moment of consideration.

Looking around there wasn’t much to it. Then again she was smack dab in the middle of a river port, of course, there wasn’t much to see. So she hit the road. There wasn’t a sidewalk to speak of and the road was made of many rectangular bricks, worn down from constant usage. She passed by a strange structure consisting of large concrete pillars arranged in a circular formation. It looked as if it had been used to hold something at one point, but now only offered shelter to a couple of Resonators who stared at Holly with unease.

She moved on; she didn’t feel like hurting anyone, especially a Resonator.

Unlike Ralevi which was sorely lacking in public transit, Santo Cercido appeared to have a functional bus network. So she hopped on the first one that came by and let it take her along.

Being taken into the city proper only served to make the little plant sad. It was so much like Ralevi despite being so far away. It was a collage of buildings and signs jumbled together in an incoherent mess. Something she realized she hadn’t paid much attention to in Ralevi was what adorned a lot of the walls. Street art, graffiti she recalled. Names, words, and pictures that meant something to the artist plastered the brick constructing most of the buildings. The meanings of these murals were lost on her.

One particular mural caught her eye. The entire face of one building had an amazing starscape, bathed in brilliant blues, oranges, and purples, with the center depicting two hands grasping an hourglass filled with ever-draining sand.

It was the first thing she had seen that interested her, so she got off on the next stop and backtracked to the art.

Holly stood in awe of it for some time, her eyes raking in every detail she could muster. It was so beautiful, she wished she could have seen it being made. She whipped her head back and forth before crossing the street to get a closer look.

It was even more amazing up close. Every little detail was meticulously placed. It must have taken years to paint given the sheer scale of the three-story building and the level of intricacy of the piece.

She reached out and touched the wall. The cool brick felt nice under her palm. Her turbulent heart had calmed – when did that happen?

“HEY!” A booming voice made the little plant jump.

Holly turned to see what the source of the noise was to find a portly Maestro in uniform approaching her. “What do you think you’re doing?” he boomed, spittle flying free.

She looked him up and down. Dressed in blues with a gaudy gold badge adorning his chest – this was a Riterran police officer. The etchings on the badge confirmed that theory. She cared not. This man was being a public disturbance himself.

“Well, I was appreciating this before your fat ass decided to ruin the moment,” Holly scoffed.
“What the fuck did you say?!” he reached to his side.
“You heard me. Or do you yell because you’re also deaf?”

Probably not Holly’s wisest decision, she realized as she ended up on the ground, her cheek throbbing where she had been struck.

He threw the first punch, or club in this case. Now she was defending herself. Perhaps the fire ultimate would shut him up.

“Oh! There you are!” A third voice suddenly spoke up.

Holly craned her head back to find a woman strolling up like she belonged to the altercation. She too was in some kind of uniform, but hers was white and black. Her straight ginger hair was tied up, long enough to stretch to the base of her back. Her complexion read of someone who loved the sun as Holly’s people did, and her bright blue eyes matched the large crystals that hung from each of her ears.

“Now what did I say about mouthing off to people, dear?” the woman said, helping Holly to her feet. As she did, Holly heard her whisper “play along,” in a decidedly different tone from the prim and proper voice the mystery woman was projecting to the man.

“Couldn’t help it, you know how I get when people interrupt me when I’m thinking,” Holly huffed.

The woman shot a look at the officer. “And why did you feel it necessary to strike her, sir?” the woman’s tone was a lot harsher when speaking to the cop.

The man scowled at her. “Is this yours?” he asked, ignoring her question.

“She in fact is,” said the ginger-haired woman. “Can I have your name and badge number? I’ll be reporting this transgression to your superiors.”

“Hmph, some uppity bitch – who do you think you are?!” he barked.

“Ah, pardon me, sir. My name is Solana Leduc.”

Holly didn’t know the significance of the woman’s name, but she quickly became interested as soon as she saw the officer turn as pale as a ghost.

“I AM SO SORRY MISS LEDUC! I DID NOT KNOW! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!”

Holly swore she heard the man’s back snap from how quickly he bowed to her.

“I have much to be doing and you’ve already cost me enough of my time. Leave before I change my mind,” she scowled, making a brushing motion with her hand.

“YES MA’AM! THANK YOU MA’AM!” And the officer ran away so fast Holly was impressed he could achieve such speeds with such a burdened frame.

As soon as they were alone, Solana gagged. “Blech, hate doing that,” she grumbled, back to the voice she had used to whisper to Holly before.

“Uh, thanks I guess,” Holly mumbled. “Saved me from smelling burning meat,” she added as a quiet aside.

Solana looked around, furrowing her brows. “Do you have a Maestro?” she asked.

Holly found herself surprised – she didn’t instantly assume Holly had a Maestro. “I don’t,” replied the zalavan.

“Stray?” asked Solana. Holly nodded. With that confirmation, the woman nodded, “Alright, follow me.”
“Huh? Why?” asked the plant.
“Oh, right. Silly me, not everybody knows who I am,” the woman laughed. “You can call me Solana, I’m a chef.”