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Break to Mend the World
The northern USC base loomed ahead of us, its newly built wall constructed from steel and reinforced concrete, towering high with an imposing presence. The architecture was completely different from the worn, coquina structures typical of the island. Floodlights illuminated the perimeter, casting long, harsh shadows on the ground below. It was a fortress, meant to intimidate and withstand any assault.
We moved silently through the shadows, sticking close to the base's perimeter. The wall's surface showed signs of damage from the relentless coastal winds, with sand etching away at the material. We found a weak spot where the metal wall met the ground, slightly eroded. Fabian used his immense strength to pry open a small gap, just wide enough for us to slip through.
Inside the base, the terrain was a vast field of dirt and patches of grass, stretching out to the coastline in the distance. The ground was uneven, swallowing parts of the buildings, making them look as if they were sinking. The sand had already begun to wear down the materials on their walls, giving them a weathered, beaten look.
As we made our way through the base, the distant hum of machinery and the occasional murmur of guards reached our ears. Every shadow is a potential threat. We moved cautiously, our senses heightened by the danger around us.
We noticed five vast ports extending into the water, with three boats currently docked. Their sleek, menacing designs marked them as USC vessels. The largest of the three was a transport ship, likely used for moving prisoners. Its hull was painted a dull gray, and the deck bristled with antennas and surveillance equipment. The other two were smaller patrol boats, armed with machine guns and spotlights.
Our attention was drawn to a figure near the piers. A woman in a white silk jumpsuit moved gracefully, her body swaying in a slow, hypnotic dance. Around her, giant stones floated in the air, mimicking her rhythm. The stones moved with a fluidity that defied their massive size, creating a mesmerizing spectacle.
"That's Arianna," I whispered to Max and Fabian. "She's one of the Cell Seekers who can control stone. She's the one who defeated Davos."
Fabian's eyes narrowed his expression hardening. "Only after you guys wore him down, I bet," he said defensively.
I shook my head, trying to keep my voice steady. "I don't know if you're giving us credit or giving Davos credit, but either way, if it wasn't for her, we'd be goners for sure. So, we better avoid her."
We continued to move cautiously until we spotted a building that looked more fortified than the others. Its walls were thicker, and the windows were barred, suggesting it might house prisoners. We hastened our pace toward the building, but before we could reach it, stones emerged from the ground, wrapping around our feet tightly and causing Max and me to fall forward. Fabian, with his immense strength, shattered the stones beneath him as if they were crystals, breaking them into pieces. He quickly turned around and kicked the stones off our feet.
As I got up from the ground, my chest felt hollow with fear as I realized Arianna had found us. Fabian and Max looked at me, waiting for guidance, but fighting Arianna was not an option. If all three of us fought her, the entire base full of USC agents would join the fray, turning it into a bloodbath we might not survive.
"Come on, the building is right there!" Max said, desperation in his voice.
"She's onto us," I replied, trying to steady my breathing. "I'll stay here and see if I can buy you guys some time to free Leo." There was doubt in my voice, but I couldn't think of any other way.
Fabian stood next to me, his expression resolute. "There's no chance I'll leave you alone. You'll be captured in a second. I'll stay here, Max can go."
Having Fabian stay behind eased my fear slightly, but now the thought of Max rescuing Leo alone, willing to do whatever it takes, sparked a new fear within me.
Max looked at me, waiting for my approval of the plan. "Stay off the ground," I said to him. Max nodded and sprinted towards one of the nearby buildings, pulling himself up to the roof with ease.
As Max disappeared from sight, I exchanged a worried look with Fabian. "It'll be fine. We'll hold her off as long as he needs and as soon as we see them, we run out." Fabian said, trying to ease my worries.
It sounded like a bad plan, especially since Fabian didn't know the extent of Arianna's powers. I wasn't even sure if there was more to her than what she showed during her battle with Davos. I promised Kyriah we wouldn't fight. I hoped to talk to Arianna before it came to that, hoping she would listen long enough for Max to get Leo out.
From around the corner of the building behind us, a white figure emerged from the darkness, walking slowly and carefree. Arianna dragged her toes on the ground, the dirt rubbing against her bare feet. She stopped a few feet away from us, standing under a flickering pole light. The coastal night wind shook her transparent silk clothes violently against her body, creating an almost spectral appearance.
"Looks like the mice have come out to play at night," Arianna said, her voice soft but carrying a dangerous edge. She seemed to recognize me, putting a finger on her chin and tilting her head slightly as if trying to remember something. "Ah! Ellion and... Fabian! Right?!" she suddenly asked excitedly.
Fabian looked at her with a mixture of surprise and caution, while I replied, "Um, yes. We met before, the battle with Davos...?"
"Yay! I got it right!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands once. "Sorry, I'm not very good at remembering people. I only remembered your faces because I was forced to study all of The Sunspears members," Arianna said, groaning as if it were an inconvenience.
Fabian and I exchanged worried looks. If the Cell Seekers had files on us, it meant they were planning to come after us sooner or later.
"So, Arianna, we're here to—"
"Hey!" Arianna cut me off, her tone playful but with an underlying menace. "I'm glad you guys are here. Maybe you know what happened to the missing agents?"
Fuck! She was already suspicious, most likely because the agents hadn't responded. The ones at Leo's house must've woken up and reported the incident. "We don't know what you're talking about," I replied, trying to sound sincere and convincing.
"Well, maybe your other friend knows, um..." Arianna began tapping her head with two fingers, struggling to remember the name. "Max! Max, the fugitive!" she exclaimed once again with a smile, pleased with herself.
"Fugitive?" I replied, taken aback.
"Yes! I was given the order to capture him. He used his powers back in Bo'Caní and killed someone. Then, he burned down a major chunk of the Itayó forest, and now he's used them again to infiltrate the hospital and cause the civil battle here," Arianna spoke as if it were obvious to capture him, given the facts she just stated.
"Bullshit!" I shouted angrily. "He might've burned down the forest, but forests always grow back. And he didn't start the civil battle here—the tension of having the USC here caused the battle. And he certainly did not kill someone in Bo'Caní, that was Gustavo! And all of you know that! He was handed over to you after he killed everyone in the Charity Center in Ororena!"
Arianna's face twisted in confusion, clearly not knowing what I was talking about. "I do remember the tragedy in Ororena, but I certainly don't know any Gustavo. We never found the culprit."
Could Ivory have lied to me, hiding Gustavo from us just like she did with Max? My hands clenched at the thought, anger simmering just below the surface.
Arianna's face changed to a serious expression, her eyes relaxing as her body tensed up. Even the air around her seemed to shift as her voice deepened. "Let's say all that stuff you said about Max is true. You still haven't answered my question. Would Max know what happened to the missing agents?" she asked, her tone demanding and her gaze unwavering. She already knew what had happened, she just wanted me to tell her.
I'm sorry, Kyriah. It seems fighting is our only option. Fabian and I readied ourselves, bracing for her strike.
Arianna's lips curved into a cold smile before she spoke. "So, this is the choice you made, Ellion. Too bad, we could've used someone with your ideals in our group." She lifted her hand, and stone coils erupted from the ground, wrapping tightly around us. I felt the pressure of the stones constricting me, but it was futile with Fabian. The stones shattered into pieces with every movement he made. He then extended his hand and broke the stones that had wrapped around me.
"You're going to have to try harder than that," Fabian said, a confident smile on his face.
Stones erupted again from the ground, this time in the shape of two giant hands, larger than the stone coils from before. One stone hand lunged at Fabian from behind while the other came at him from the front. Fabian extended both arms, his muscles bulging. I feared for him for a moment, but the stones clashed against his hands and broke apart as if they had hit a brick wall. Arianna didn't back down; thick pillars of stone erupted from the ground beneath Fabian with heavy force, hitting him in the stomach and throwing him far away. He crashed into the metal wall that surrounded the base, the sound echoing through the silent night.
I froze the air around Arianna and shot ice from my hands, encasing her from her neck down. "We don't want to fight, Arianna. We're here—"
"To break someone out of a USC facility," Arianna cut me off once again. "Something else to add to the list of Max's criminal charges," she said calmly.
I didn't say anything back. She seemed to have already thought all of this through. She might have a laid-back side, but in reality, she was sharp and fierce, someone to be cautious around.
"I'm curious about something, Ellion. That friend of yours, Fabian—does he only possess one Clemons Cell ability? I'm amazed by his brute strength," Arianna asked.
"Of course, he only has one. He's not like Davos!" I defended Fabian.
"Do you trust him?" Arianna suddenly asked.
I hadn't trusted him at first, but after everything we'd been through on this island, I had to admit he had earned it. To be honest, he's at the top of my list of people I know will come and help me in a heartbeat. He's clearly shown that. "I trust him," I replied flatly.
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Arianna stared back at me for a few seconds, before replying, "Let's see the limit of his strength, then," then, the ice that encased her started to turn into stone. The stones then broke apart and floated in the air, surrounding her. She snapped her fingers, and the stones dashed to surround me. I let out ice from my body, but the stones quickly merged and tightened around me once again, leaving me immobilized.
As she turned and walked towards where Fabian had landed, giant stones erupted from the ground and started to merge into what seemed to be an enormous boulder, almost 10 meters high and wide enough to block the moonlight from the buildings. The boulder shifted and contorted, giving it limbs, and forming a massive stone golem. Each step it took made the ground tremble, its weight causing deep reverberations through the earth as it followed Arianna. "Now, don't you move," she said, wagging her finger at me with a mocking smile before continuing on her way.
I desperately tried to break free from the stone's grasp, but the bindings were too strong and thick. Fabian must be incredibly strong to have broken free so easily. The shouts of agents from far away started to close in, punctuated by a fiery explosion from inside the building where Max had gone.
How could I break free from this? Arianna had turned my ice into stone, but maybe I could freeze the stones from the inside, making them brittle enough to tear them apart. I closed my eyes and focused on letting ice pour out of my body. Even as I started to shiver from my cold, I kept pushing, forcing the stones to crack from within. Finally, I heard a satisfying crack. I summoned every bit of strength I had left and gave it all I got. The stones that encased me shattered, releasing a mist of ice into the air.
Now the question remained: should I help Fabian against Arianna, or make sure Max doesn't worsen things while freeing Leo? Fabian had shown surprising strength, and Arianna was formidable. I might only get in the way of their fight. It all came down to who I trusted more to do their task, and the answer was obvious to me.
As I ran toward the building where Max had headed, I saw three people running out of it. I prepared myself to fight, but they weren't USC agents—they seemed to be prisoners, with grey and white uniform clothing with a number on it. They dashed through the base, hiding in the darkness without paying any mind to me.
Immediately, I feared Max had done something awful. The fire, the freed prisoners—something must have gone wrong. I rushed inside and was met with a scene of chaos. Max was getting up from the ground with the help of three others beside him—escapees, no doubt. All the other freed prisoners were attacking the USC agents. The agents tried to fight back, but they were overwhelmed. Some prisoners had shivs and were brutally stabbing the agents through the neck and face.
I heard a blood-curdling slash and turned to see a man with a messy ponytail laughing maniacally on top of one of the jailers, his face splattered with blood. The sight snapped something inside me. Anger boiled over, and I shot a big blast of ice toward the man, who yelled out in pain and fell to the ground.
"Max!" I yelled, my voice echoing through the chaotic room. He turned, eyes wide with surprise. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
Max shrugged off the hands helping him up, yelling back, "It wasn't me! I didn't fight back!" His voice was desperate, pleading for me to understand amidst the madness that surrounded us.
One of the escapees next to Max, a burly man with a shaved head, tried to speak up. His clothes were tattered, and his eyes held a desperate yet determined look. But my mind was too blocked, too focused on Max and the bloodshed around. I shot out a burst of ice toward the escapee, flinging him against the wall.
"STOP!" Max yelled angrily. "He didn't do anything either! They were helping me! The prisoners got ahold of a key and opened all the cells!" He tried to reason with me, but nothing was getting through. I was done hearing his excuses, his selfish reasoning for his actions. I was stopping him once and for all.
Another escapee, a tall, wiry man raised his hands defensively. "Listen, we were just—" I didn't let him finish. Another burst of ice shot from my hand, but Max intercepted, melting the ice before it reached him. The heat was intense, scorching the air between us.
"What are you doing?! Listen to me for once!" Max tried again to reason with me.
But I was beyond reason, lost in my anger. "Everywhere you go, you always cause destruction and death, Max!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the hall. With a swift motion, I conjured a massive spike of ice and hurled it at Max, intending to encase him and end this madness. But Max reacted instantly, flames bursting from his hands and melting the ice before it reached him. The steam from the clash of our powers filled the room.
The prisoner with the ponytail got up and cursed at me, yelling, "This is The Sunspears leader?! You're a disgrace to the Vanitans, helping foreigners!"
Suddenly, a man with a crazed look in his eyes managed to slip behind me and grabbed me in a chokehold. "Got you now, you icy freak!" he spat, his breath hot and foul against my ear.
I noticed Max moving in to help, but just then, more USC agents burst through the entrance. The crazed man got distracted by the USC, and I took advantage, breaking free from his grasp and throwing him against one of the agents. The agents, unable to see clearly due to the steam, started ganging up on anyone they set their eyes on.
Amid all the steam, the room erupted into a full-scale melee. Prisoners, agents, Max, and I were all caught in a brutal fight, unable to distinguish friend from foe. The air was filled with the whirling of movement, the sound of gunfire, shouts, and the clash of ice and fire. Blasts of heat and cold collided, intensifying the haze and obscuring our vision.
Bodies collided, fists flew, and blood splattered across the walls. The floor was slick with a mix of ice and thick blood. Through the steam, I caught glimpses of the battle, an agent tackling a prisoner to the ground, only to be knocked out by a swing from another escapee; a prisoner stabbing an agent; a bulky agent clubbing a prisoner with a rifle; and Max's fire blasting against my defensive ice spikes.
As I was holding down one of the escapees, I met eyes with two USC agents who readied their rifles to shoot at me. I quickly conjured a shield of ice, and the bullets ricocheted off it with sharp, metallic pings. I turned around and saw Max engaged in a fierce struggle with an agent.
Suddenly, Max engulfed the agent's uniform in flames. I blasted icy wind at the agent, extinguishing the fire, and simultaneously threw an ice beam at Max with my left hand, knocking him to the ground.
Oncoming footsteps echoed from the corner, and I instinctively shot towards the sound. A cry of pain pierced through my frenzied state, Leo's voice. The ice had struck him, cutting across his arm and chest. He crumpled to the ground, clutching his wounds.
My heart felt like it had stopped as Max rushed to Leo's side. The room fell into momentary silence, broken only by Leo's pained gasps. Then, pillars of fire erupted around us, encircling us in a blazing inferno.
"I didn't mean to... I'm sorry," I stammered as the heat of the fire melted all the ice around us.
"Ellion... why?" Leo whispered, his voice breaking with pain and confusion.
Max stood up, his eyes reflecting the inferno around us as if the fire was coming from within him. "It's you," he said coldly, his voice devoid of any warmth. A chill of fear ran through me. He seemed resolved. "You and Nicholas put that nonsense of having to be good in my head. Always telling me what I should feel, and what I should do, based on your definitions of what it means to be a good man. And every time, you stopped me from doing what I wanted to do, to do things your way!" The flames around him flared brighter, hotter, a burst of intense red light. "Nicholas stopped me from doing what I wanted when my mother was dying, just like you tried to do with Leo!"
"You still did whatever you felt like doing! You attacked the hospital and created division on the island! Why can't you see that your actions have consequences?!" I yelled back, my voice raw with frustration and anger.
"We're never going to see eye to eye. You want to give the people justice while I want to deliver justice to our enemies." He smirked, a dark, almost manic glint in his eyes. "I even considered letting them capture me... Thank you for coming here. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have realized that you and I are too different and I was forcing myself to be someone I am not."
"What about Nicholas' dream?" I asked, desperation seeping into my voice as USC agents surrounded us, waiting for the fire to dissipate. There were too many agents to count, their ranks stretching as far as the halls extended, all armored and with cocked firearms.
"Nicholas' dream was the only obstacle in my life. I didn't want to disappoint him. But you can't disappoint the dead. Everyone I loved is gone, and it's clear what I have to do." Max's tone was final. I knew what he was going to do, but there was no way to stop him. The heat became unbearable, and I held my breath as ice quickly encased my entire body. My vision blurred, but my ears filled with the deafening roar of explosions all around me. I felt myself flung into the air, completely disoriented, until I finally hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud.
The ice that wrapped around me dissipated as I inhaled deeply, finally able to breathe. As I slowly got up, I looked at my surroundings. The whole base was engulfed in flames, even the sand, with fire reaching higher than the buildings. Shattered glass, twisted metal, and chunks of the bases were scattered across the ground, mingled with the scorched bodies of the agents, reduced to blackened husks and ash.
The light of the flames contrasted sharply with the rising sun, casting a surreal glow over the scene. The sky was painted in hues of pink and orange, a stunning dawn breaking upon a landscape of utter devastation. The beauty of the sunrise clashed with the gruesome scene.
Suddenly, the earth shook as pillars of stone erupted from the ground, one of them grabbing hold of me. Arianna descended from the sky, breaking the ground as she landed. Her face was pale and enraged. Without hesitation, she walked toward me with heavy steps, the stone pulling me closer to her.
"TELL ME WHY I SHOULDN'T KILL YOU ALL RIGHT NOW?!" Arianna's voice was a mix of fury and desperation, jagged stones floating around me, ready to strike at any moment.
I couldn't find any words. I had no argument to offer. I stayed silent, bracing myself for the inevitable, when suddenly Max emerged from the flames, carrying Leo in his arms. Both were unscathed, the fire seeming to part for them.
"All this massacre for one person?!" Arianna shouted at Max, but he slowly lowered Leo to the ground. Leo stood up slowly, still aching from the wounds I had inflicted. "I'm not going to let any of you go!" The ground shook once more as she yelled, and various stone golems emerged from the earth, towering over us.
Just as they appeared, the golems began to crumble. I saw Fabian leaping from one to another, breaking through them with his fists and legs effortlessly. His body looked strange, with muscles bulging unnaturally and veins that seemed to glow dimly, though I couldn't see clearly through the falling debris. He landed next to me, shattering the stone that held me, but the glow in his veins had vanished.
"Looks like the odds aren't in your favor," Max said, his voice hard but controlled.
Arianna let out a small chuckle. "I've dealt with worse odds," she replied, readying herself for another round of combat.
The air was heavy with the stench of burnt flesh, and I felt a deep reluctance to continue fighting. But it seemed we had no other choice. "Thanks, Fabian. For saving me once again. You okay?" I asked him.
"She's very strong. I was barely keeping up. And unlike many of us, she doesn't seem to get tired of using her powers. It's obvious she's very well-trained to control them like this." Fabian's eyes stayed locked on Arianna, watching for any sudden movements.
"Let's make a deal. I'll go quietly if you let them go," Max suddenly said to Arianna.
"No deal. I'll take all of you right now," Arianna replied, her eyes flashing with determination to fight us.
"You just saw Fabian break through your stones like they were nothing. Ellion can defend himself with his ice against your stones, and I can burn you right where you're standing. You have no guarantee you'll win this fight," Max said, his tone threatening. "But you were looking for me. I did everything here. You have me alive to blame for all of this, to answer for my crimes."
Arianna's expression hardened, but she seemed to be considering her options. Then, she eased up and said, "If you wanted the world's attention, you have it now. Just know that this is not the end. The USC will retaliate." Her voice carried a note of caution. "Leave now, before I change my mind."
Max looked at Leo before leaving and hugged him tightly, whispering something in his ear. Leo nodded and walked slowly towards us.
I turned to Max to say something, but he spoke first, "This changes nothing between us, Ellion. I know what I said, and I stand by it. This is just one of the things I have to do, and I'm done listening to you anymore." his eyes weren't full of doubt like before, his face and voice was like a whole new person. "Just do me one favor, tell Annie... I'm sorry for not coming back," he said softly.
I knew this wasn't going to change anything, but I did not want to accept that we were going to be on opposite sides now. I felt like I failed Nicholas. I nodded and turned to walk away. Leo met my gaze, looking concerned but trying to smile with gratitude. I forced a smile back, a silent understanding between us.
"We need to move, now," Fabian urged us.
As we hurried away from the base through the same gap we came in before, I walked beside Leo and said, "I'm sorry for before, Leo. I was too blinded by rage that I ignored my friend and attacked him, forgetting the most important thing we were there for—you."
"It's okay, I forgive you. I know being the leader of The Sunspears isn't easy. We're going to be alright," he said with a sudden confident smile.
"And why are you so sure?" I asked, curious.
"Because before Max left, he told me, 'Trust Ellion. He'll save the islands.' And I believe him. You got me out," Leo said.
A flicker of joy sparked inside me at hearing what Max had said, but it was quickly overshadowed by the weight of everything that had happened. Sadness lurked in the corner of my mind, ready to pounce. I didn't feel like a savior; on the contrary, I felt like I had brought doom to this island. My eyes watered, and my voice broke a little as I put my arm around Leo's shoulder and said, "Leo, about your mother..."