This is IT. The chapter that I've been dragging out for this WHOLE DANG STORY. And it's longer than usual. Enjoy! :'D
Molly frowned at the note as she plopped into her still-unmade bed. First place? That could be a million places. The first place that she remembered? The first place she found out about her true self? The first place she met Liam? And if that, where? She had met him twice; once in her past, and once in her present. Of course, there were tons of other 'first places', but Molly was betting that out of that pile of places, the 'first' one would be something related to the whole journey.
Lets see which ones make sense…the place I found out about myself? No, that was around the middle of town, and Friga put her house around there…The first place I met Liam was in the middle of the school field, but there is no fields in Solaris. The second time was at the train station. Could that be it?
Molly pondered for a moment. But I wasn't really meeting him, I was just seeing him once more, and that wasn't the first place. Maybe then it's the first memory I have?
Molly took a deep breath. This one was going to be tricky.
She closed her eyes and reached back far as she could into the chasm of memories. Last she could recall, she was at a hotel; but there were no hotels in Solaris.
Then, as if her arm had been magically extended to grip a something farther than she could reach, a memory filled into her mind. Molly was surprised; this one was from a very, very long time ago. She was surprised that she could remember it.
It was so hazy and fleeting that Molly wondered if she had dreamed it. She reached for it, but the memory vanished like smoke.
Molly seethed at this, then her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten yet. Molly quickly found out that she didn't have any food left, so she went out and harvested some more fruit.
As she ate the breakfast, she thought about the memory. She knew it was there; it was frustrating beyond belief to not be able to reach it.
"Wait," she said out loud. "Liam probably wont be able to get up until tomorrow…so I guess I'll just sleep on it."
Turned out Molly had all sorts of chores to do, such as explaining a rough outline of the story to many of the confused villagers, collecting the cures, storing them in her house for later. For some reason, Molly didn't want anyone drinking the cure and becoming human; not because she wanted to be the first one, but…it just felt right.
By the time Molly was done running around, the sun was setting.
"Where does the time go?" she asked herself softly as she cleaned up her house, which was getting dusty. She had thought all day about where the 'first place' was, but couldn't form a logical guess.
Night eventually fell, and when it did Molly curled up in the covers, wondering if she'd dream. She yawned and allowed the wave of sleep to drown her.
Molly woke up early. She blinked her eyes groggily and looked around her house. She went to snuggle back into the covers when she suddenly remembered. Frustration surged through her; her mind didn't give her a dream or a clue about the first place.
She sat on her bed, thinking, when suddenly she had the strange sensation again; as if a hand was in her mind, helping her stretch for a memory from long ago.
And then it all made sense.
Molly, this is Brookline Plaza. Look at the tree in the middle! Isn't it pretty?
Why is it pink, mommy?
Because it's the beginning of spring, and those are the cherry blossoms.
Who's that?
Hm? Oh, it's a boy with his mother. Do you know him?
I've seen him at school. His name is Liam. He just stared at me!
I'm sure he just recognizes you too. Wave!
Molly blinked twice at the memory. That was so long ago! Could it possibly…
There was a plaza in Solaris, with a big tree in the middle; and the cherry blossoms had just started up a day ago. It couldn't have been a coincidence. Molly leaped out of bed, dressed herself, inhaled a banana, and ran out the door. She followed the paths through the forest and past the pond (which had some frogs lazily hopping around) and broke into the clearing where the plaza was. And there, sitting on the bricks surrounding the tree, was Liam.
"Hey," Molly said breathlessly.
Liam blinked and looked at her. "Took you long enough."
"How was I supposed to know where the 'first place' was?" Molly retorted. Liam's eyes widened at that, but he quickly blinked and got up.
"You ready?" he said gently.
Molly nodded. "I've had a long time to think about it, Liam." they grinned at each other.
"Well…," he started. "I'm guessing your worst memory was of your brother, um, dying."
"Right," Molly said. Suddenly she felt nervous. Was she prepared to hear this? She steeled herself and listened. Suddenly Liam took her wings in his hands and squeezed them, not letting go.
"Well…you liked your brother a lot. He was older than you. His name was Dustin."
Molly nodded. She had a few memories of him, but she was very little in most of them. She remembered him being tall with dark brown hair and a perfect smile.
"But one day, Dustin got sick, and he stayed in bed for a while. When the doctor came to help, he confirmed…it was the plague."
Molly nodded again, biting her tongue.
"So Dustin slowly started withering away. He couldn't play games anymore, and soon the plague even took over his mind, and you couldn't even interact…and one day he called for you, over and over, in the middle of the night. You woke up and went to him, and he said he was dying and he wanted to say goodbye."
Molly tensed at the memory. She had repressed it for so long, but it finally came to her. She remembered her brother's gray face, his eyes flicking from side to side.
But wait…this memory…it wasn't like I didn't know it. I could've remembered it if I tried, but I didn't.
"And, well, I don't know what happened after that. I just know he died."
Liam hung his head silently, as if mourning her brother. Molly blinked and waited. Her heart pounded with the feeling of sorrow and grief, tears slowly coming to her eyes, but not falling. For a minute, they just stood in that position.
"Um…" Molly began. "Is…something supposed to happen?"
"I think…" Liam said. "Do you remember it?"
"Yeah. I think I always did, actually…"
Liam's face fell. "What? Really?"
"I'm pretty sure. I just didn't want to remember it, so I never thought about it, but yeah. I think I already knew."
Liam frowned. "Well, then I'm not sure what-" and then his eyes widened for a moment.
"What?"
"I think I know," he said softly. "Yeah. I think I know."
I walked up the hill steadily, the dandelions squishing under my feet. The sky was a deep azure, and puffy clouds passed danced on it, as if the sky were a stage. It would've been a beautiful day if only it weren't Operation Day.
"Hey. Took you long enough," came a familiar voice. I looked up and saw her. I cracked a grin.
"Well, how was I supposed to know where the 'first place' was?" he said teasingly.
We were sitting behind the school in the field, where we'd first met. We stared at each other for a while.
"Liam…" she said. "I don't want to forget you."
"You do, trust me. They wont forgive people who remember."
"It doesn't matter! I want you to come, Liam…"
"Remember? I tested positive."
"I know…" she mumbled, picking a dandelion from the ground. "I just…I'll remember you, got it?! I swear I will."
"I don't want you to! You'll get killed," I snapped. Would she ever see sense? I'd explained this to her a million times.
"Okay," she said softly. We stared at each other, and I tried memorizing every detail of her face. The rosy cheeks, the light brown hair that came down to her shoulders.
Suddenly there was a loud alarm, and a crackly, static voice, no doubt from a loudspeaker. "Calling all residents to main plaza. Calling all residents to main plaza. Operation Day."
She looked up at the direction of the voice and sighed.
"I guess this goodbye," she said, her voice trembling. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears.
"It's okay," I said gently. I pushed down any chance of crying. I walked towards her and hugged her.
"I just want you to remember one thing, Molly. Wherever you go, you'll always be loved."
And before I could think, I kissed her. She tensed in surprise, but didn't pull away. We stood like that for a few moments before breaking off. We stared into each other's eyes one last time, and then she started walking away. And seeing her walk away was too much. As she vanished over the hill, I ran after her, until I reached the plaza. A man was at the front, checking names on a list.
"I'm sorry, you tested positive, please go to the end of the line," the man said in a monotone to a small child at the front. I weaved through the line, hardly understanding what I was doing, until I reached the front. He opened the gate for some random kid who probably tested negative; and the instant the gate was open I rushed through it. The man yelled as I dashed in, running into the crowd and hiding behind a tree.
I'll follow you, I thought determinedly. No matter where I go!
Molly stared at Liam's face in shock as he retold the memory. His eyes kept displaying a wide range of emotions, his voice shaking more than once in certain parts, until he finally finished with a big breath, staring at her face expectantly, red-faced.
Molly looked at him, stunned, until finally the memory started trickling in, then poured in. She was utterly unprepared for the wave of feelings streaming in and the tears that had collected in her eyes started to fall. The pain, the fear, the sadness, was all so much more than she expected.
And then suddenly a small ball of white light floated over to her. Liam stopped holding her wings and stared at it.
"Liam-" she started, but suddenly several more balls of light swirled towards her, and Liam backed away.
"Whats going on?" she asked.
"I'm not sure."
The spheres kept coming, surrounding her, pulsating. She saw Liam squint from the brightness.
"Molly!" he called, but he sounded like he was underwater. The light bound together, forming a dome over her head of pure, blinding white. She squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them, she was in a white room. She blinked and looked around. She tried moving, but it felt like she was tied down to something, even though there was no rope or pole or chair in sight. This whole sensation was hauntingly familiar.
Suddenly, a creature appeared in front of her. Horror went through her body at its impossible-to-describe figure.
"The medicine!" Molly rasped. "I…what?! I beat you!"
"Molly," it said simply. Molly fell silent, staring at it.
"You never fought the medicine. All you fought was your tracker. I am the medicine, Molly. The final boss."
Molly stared at it, awed. "R-really?"
"Yes. I'm sorry for fooling you." Suddenly Molly felt something materialize in her hands. She looked down, and to her shock, it was a knife. A regular kitchen knife.
"Your journey comes to an end here," it continued. "Kill me."
"W-what?!"
"You must stab me with that knife."
"But…kill you…?"
"Do not worry. I am not sentient, however much I appear to be. Besides, I live on in the minds of your friends."
"But the cure…"
"Yes, I will die eventually, just like everything else. In fact, I am pleased you made it this far. I have tried helping you in many ways."
Molly frowned. "How so?"
"Many of your memories could not be reached by normal human capacity. I helped you there."
Molly remembered the strange feeling of a hand helping her reach out for her memories.
"That was you?"
"Yes. And a few other things that are irrelevant. Now I have released your bounds; you can kill me."
Molly felt the thing restraining her suddenly vanish. She took a step forward, knife in hand.
"Please," it said.
Molly tightened her hand around the knife. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. Please, Molly. I want to be released from my malicious origins. I am tired of manipulating minds."
Molly slowly pulled back her wing. "Well…if you're so positive…then…" she lunged forward and pushed in the knife. Her heart pounded. The medicine let out a sigh of relief, and started flaking away. Molly stared at it in shock as bits and pieces vanished away. Finally it was gone, and Molly heard the faintest whisper in her head.
Thank you.
Molly opened her eyes sleepily. She was still in her dome of light, but the spheres started slowly departing from her, flitting into the sky and vanishing. Her body felt cold, everything was blurry, and she couldn't smell anything; but she was towering up now, and it hit her.
I'm-It's…It's true! I'm…
Liam was still sitting on the bricks, his eyes squeezed shut. Finally, all the light had vanished.
"Liam," Molly croaked. "Liam…open your eyes."
Liam cracked an eyelid open, and the rest flew open in shock.
"You're…"
"I'm human!" Molly cheered and ran towards Liam. Liam shut his eyes again and held out a present. It was covered in yellow wrapping paper and had a red ribbon.
"Where'd you get-"
"Open it," he said. She did so and inside was a pink, brown and yellow argyle skirt. On the tag it said GracieGrace©.
"Gracie? How'd you get something from her?" Molly gasped.
"Washed her car," he said with a grin. "And, uh, could you put it on…like, now? You're not wearing any pants."
Molly's face went red and she quickly pulled on the skirt. As she did so, she looked at her featherless, pink limbs.
"It's really true," she whispered. "I'm human."
Liam grinned and jumped towards her, hugging her. She stumbled, unused to human body parts.
"Calm down, you still have a concussion!" Molly said, but she was laughing.
"Come on, lets get you home," he said with a grin.
"Human senses are gonna take some getting used to," she said. "Everything is so blurry compared to being a duck. Same with pretty much all my other senses."
"Uh-huh. And the whole not being able to fly thing," Liam joked.
"Right." She smiled. "Um, could I have some help? If I try walking I'm probably going to fall over."
Liam laughed and put his arm around her shoulders. "Sure, Molly. I'll help you."
BAM! It's DONE! This is technically what you could call the end, but I still have two more chapters planned out. Get hyped! 8)