And after a short two-day holiday break, I am back with the final chapter (epilogue not included)! Warning: I really rushed through this because I am SO busy and I'm sure none of this chapter makes any sense…
We watched the helicopter as it disappeared, then my dad said, "Well, we can definitely kiss our jobs goodbye now."
"Good riddance!" I said vehemently.
"We already knew we'd lose them," Dr. Amélie pointed out. "So it's no surprise."
"But what are we going to do without jobs?" My dad demanded, looking panicky.
Dr. Amélie wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry about it, Mason," she said comfortingly. "We'll find a way to get by."
"If we survive this," I pointed out.
"We need to go back," Brady said suddenly.
We all looked at him.
"What do you mean, go back?" Dr. Amélie asked.
"I mean go back and face him. The hooded figure. We need to get rid of him for good," Brady said, glancing up at us, his hazel eyes dark and sad yet determined.
"Brady's right," I said. "That's what we came here to do, isn't it?"
"Yes, but-" My dad began, but I cut him off.
"But nothing! Come on, daddy! We came here to stop this guy from taking over the world, and that's what we're going to do. That's what'll make it all worth it, losing our jobs, leaving our home, all of it!"
"But what if you get hurt?" My dad asked.
"I won't let that happen," Brady said immediately.
"Daddy, I don't think you're as worried about me as you are about yourself," I said. "You are scared for your safety, not mine."
"That's not-"
"Yes it is! I know it is, daddy, you can't pretend otherwise. But you don't have to be scared. I'm here for you, you'll be okay."
He looked up at me. "Really?"
I looked right back. "Really really."
He sighed heavily. "Okay then. Let's go save the world."
"That'll be a memory for the memory books," Dr. Amélie joked, winking at me.
I giggled and grabbed Brady's hand. "Come on, Brady. Time for you to be a hero again."
"I don't know how many times I'll be able to do that again," he said, flashing me a mischievous grin I'd never seen on him before.
"Oh, I'm sure you can manage it once or twice more," I said, smiling back.
We started walking back to where we'd last seen the figure, the two of us taking the lead.
"Do you think we can do this?" I asked Brady.
He nodded slowly. "I think so."
We walked in silence for a while after that, until finally we were almost there. I could see the outline of the hooded figure in the distance, standing on the burned ground where Brady's home had once stood. And then Brady broke the silence.
"Mikayla," he began, looking a bit nervous. "There's.. uh.. something I want to tell you."
"Yes?" I asked, a bit curiously. What could he want to tell me?
"Uhhh…" He glanced back at Dr. Amélie, who seemed to know exactly what he wanted and grabbed my dad's arm, turning him around and engaging him in conversation so he couldn't see us.
"Okay, now I can do this," Brady said, taking my other hand and bringing me face to face with him. "Mikayla, I know this is going to sound crazy-"
"I'm use to crazy," I told him. "What is it?"
"I know I've only known you for a few days, but it doesn't feel that way. I feel like I've known you my entire life. But that's not what I wanted to tell you. What I wanted to say was… I really like you, Mikayla. No, I don't just like you, I love you. You're the light that shone through when my world was black as night. You're the one who gave me hope when I had none and who rescued me from my prison. You're my angel. And I love you with all of my heart."
"You love me?" I echoed.
He was looking right into my eyes now with those beautiful hazel ones I loved so much. "Yes. Do you… do you love me too?"
I may not have known before, but I knew now. "Yes. Yes, I love you." I whispered. My eyes were suddenly filled with hot tears. "Yes I love you," I said again, louder this time. A tear rolled down my cheek.
Brady wiped it off with his thumb. "Don't cry, Kayla."
"But what if we die?" I asked, a small sob escaping me. "We just found each other…"
"Hey," he said softly, taking me into his arms and hugging me. "We'll be okay. Love always finds a way, my Mikayla."
I hugged him back tightly, trying to fight back my tears. "I know."
Suddenly there was a loud CRACK of lightning quickly followed by a mind-blowing BOOM of thunder. "WHERE ARE YOU, BRADY?" The hooded figure's voice reverberated across the plain. "COME TO ME, BOY."
Brady released me. "We have to go. It's now or never."
I nodded. "Okay."
"I love you."
"I love you too. Now we need to hurry."
~XXX~
The four of us ran all the way to the old castle site, panting and wheezing by the time we got there.
He was waiting for us, his green eyes glowing at us out of the shadows under his hood. "Hello again, old friends," he said, his voice low and guttural.
"We're here to finish you off," Brady said cooly. "So prepare to die."
"Prepare to die? Sorry, I can't really do that. Death is not on my schedule."
"It's not really on ours either, though," Dr. Amélie said. "So we both have a bit of a problem, don't we?"
"If you give me the prince, I will let the rest of you go free," the figure said.
"Yeah, sure. But when you take over the world, you'll kill us then. So it's then or now," I pointed out. "Or Option Three: we kill you."
"You can't kill me," he said. "What powers do you have?"
"Lightning. Fortunately for us, you were stupid enough to give it to me," Brady said.
"Ah, so I did," he said. "Then let us duel, boy."
"All right, we duel," Brady agreed.
I couldn't help squeaking in fear.
He turned to me. "Don't worry, Mikayla. I'll be fine." Then he turned back to face the figure, jaw clenched in determination.
I stepped back and Dr. Amélie wrapped her arm around me, pulling me closer. "He'll be okay," she whispered.
I leaned my head against her shoulder. "I hope so."
The two faced each other, bowed, then began to circle each other. For the first few minutes they just circled each other, neither one doing anything.
Do something, I silently begged Brady. Just DO something! Make a move! Fight!
Finally, the figure uttered a low, indistinct word and a flock of black ravens swooped down on Brady, but he just sent a jet of blue lightning at them, sending them falling to the ground, dead. Next, the figure sent a cloud of crows. They went the same way as the ravens.
I started to feel some hope. But I still didn't understand why Brady didn't do anything.
After he'd deflected some eagles and giant flies, the figure was starting to get frustrated. "Fight back!" He yelled. "Fight back, boy!"
"You want me to fight back?" Brady asked. "Fine, I'll fight back." He closed his eyes and made his hands into fists. Then there was a huge rumbling, followed by a deafening CRACK, and a blue bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and hit the figure squarely on top of the head. As soon as it made contact with him, the figure just disappeared into thin air.
My mouth dropped open. "How did you do that?" I asked.
He shook his head, looking just as shocked as I felt. "I don't know… But I feel weaker, much weaker…" He stumbled, but my dad was able to catch him before he fell.
"That bolt must have seeped the rest of your powers," Dr. Amélie said, automatically switching to scientist mode.
"I don't care," he said. "I'm just glad she's gone."
"Hey, what's that?" I asked. Lying on the ground, in the place where the figure had just been standing, was a small sphere, about the size of my hand. I walked over to it, bent down, and picked it up. It was crystal clear, full of swirling, beautiful blue sea water.
Dr. Amélie came closer and examined it. "I'm not sure."
"It's heavy," I said. "Here, you hold it." I held it out to her, but it was so cold and slippery and heavy that it slipped out of my fingers, fell to the ground, and smashed.
But before I had time to feel sorry that such a beautiful thing had broken, aqua blue mist started to seep out, twirling up in spirals. Soon it was pouring out, filling the air, reaching out, covering the entire face of the island.
"Brady, what's happening?" I asked. "Brady?" I couldn't see him anymore. I couldn't see anyone, they were all lost in the mist.
After a few minutes of swirling it started to clear out and I could see everyone again. And I also got the shock of a lifetime.
"What happened?" I cried, looking around. My surrounding had changed completely. Instead of a flat, blacken plain, I was standing in the middle of a beautiful courtyard, made all of tan cobblestones. In front of me a castle made of the same tan cobblestones loomed high above me, and behind me a lush, dark green forest had taken shape. To another side of me I could see a the ocean, aqua blue and sparkling.
"Kinkow," Brady breathed. "It's Kinkow. It's back!"
"This is the castle?" I asked. "Really?"
He nodded, his eyes shining. "If it's come back… But how could they possibly…"
Then the huge wooden castle doors swung open and people came pouring out. I recognized some of them, Brady's parents and siblings and Rebecca.
They spotted him at once and ran to over to us.
"Brady! You saved us!" Rebecca exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in a sisterly hug.
"Yeah! You did it!" His brothers cried, clapping him on the back.
His parents hugged him, then all of their attention turned to me.
"Who's that?" One of his brothers, Boomer, I think, asked.
Brady smiled at me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Everyone, this is Mikayla. She helped me with… everything."
His mom gave me a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you, Mikayla."
Everyone else said hello, Brady introduced my dad and Dr. Amélie, and his family all started going back inside, talking about some kind of feast. My dad and Dr. Amélie went with them.
I hung back a little. Brady had already gone in with his brothers, leaving me alone and kind of unsure what to do.
The doors had almost closed when Rebecca came back out. "Come on, Mikayla. Don't you want to?"
I nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I do.é
She walked over to me and looped her arm through mine. "Then come on. I think you and me should get to know each other."
"Good," I said. "I can't wait to get to know all of you."
Epilogue will be coming in a few days, I'm not sure exactly when. But I have to tell y'all something. I think I'm going to retire my FanFiction account. I mean, I'm going to leave my stories up, but I won't write anymore. This last story was really hard for me, I had a lot of trouble writing it and it still wasn't very good, not nearly as good as I'd hoped it would be, anyway. So unless y'all are SUPER apposed to it, I'm gonna say goodbye.