Liberation

Chapter 21

Adam's point of view:

"Everything's...finally...ready," I sigh out as I look at Maria.

For the entirety of yesterday and since the sun poked its first rays of light above the horizon this morning, Maria and I have been developing all sorts of different weapons to give us a more fair advantage against Henley and her brother's powers.

I look at the display of armory in front of me, impressed in mine and Maria's skill.

Rows and rows of hundreds of different weapons lie in front of me: cross bows, grenades, daggers, guns, swords, and more.

We've asked for all the volunteers to help defend the city that we can, but since not everyone has powers (ever since we made getting a power optional) and even less have a power that's good for fighting, Maria and I thought this would help.

"I'm blown away, but I think I'm most proud of this," Maria says, holding up a specialized gun that Victoria herself assisted us with. By harnessing her power and trapping it inside the gun, anyone hit with one of the bullets from it will be powerless for one minute, a single minute that could mean victory or defeat.

Specially made.

"That fire's probably on our doorstep by now. We need to get everyone with the power of elements out there," I tell Maria.

"Cassia said that she and Kyle would be by with their healers as well to help keep the element-empowered people's energy up since they'll have to control the fire for such a long period of time. Susan said she'd come as well to keep everyone in good spirit," she tells me.

"Good. Have you talked to Julia or Peter yet?" I ask.

But before Maria answers, the door to our engineering room is slid open, revealing Julia's silhouetted figure on the other side.

"Talked to me about what?" She asks, stepping into the light.

Julia walks forward, and I'm a bit surprised by her appearance. She has her dark hair pulled back, revealing bags under her eyes from a severe lack of sleep. Her hands are shaking a bit, possibly due to the cold temperature of the room, but it suggests something else I cannot place...possibly nerves? Fear?

She moves slowly and carefully, almost like she's walking on eggshells that she's determined not to break. Her breath is quick and yet deep, almost like she's afraid every intake of air will be her last. But the most unsettling are her eyes themselves, red and puffy from what looks like crying. The look in them is fragile, the orbs like green glass that has begun to crack, threatening to shatter into millions of pieces.

Julia has always been beautiful, and I say that as one friend to another friend. But today, she looks bad. Really bad and in really bad shape, which is the worst possible thing considering the importance of today.

"Dear God, what happened to you?" I ask, ignoring the task at hand for a moment.

But Julia just closes herself off, becoming unreachable. "It's not important," she says, before trying to perk up the tiniest bit.

"Whatcha got there?" She asks, signaling to Victoria's gun in Maria's hands.

And while Maria explains the gun to Julia, I try to figure out what could have possibly done this to her. Even though I really don't know anything about the power of evaluation, I can guess that due to Julia's lack of sleep and a certain someone's absence this morning that something bad happened between her and Peter. Something really bad.

"Cool. You wanna load me up with one?" Julia asks, and Maria tosses her one of the few of those guns we made. We made 6, one for Julia, Peter, Cassia, Susan, Kyle, and myself. The rest of the weapons will be distributed amongst everyone else.

"Are you gonna be with the people with the power of elements today to help with the fire?" I ask Julia as all three of us make our way out of the engineering building and across the street where our "army" is waiting. Snow lies on the ground and smoke hangs in the air, giving the temperature outside a both warm and chilly feeling.

"No," she answers, surprising me a bit. "I'm going to stay with the healers. I need to talk with Cassia anyway," she says, and who am I to tell her otherwise?

But then, I can't take it anymore. She looks so unsettled, so utterly disturbed, that I have to ask. "Maria, go on ahead and start sending people back to the engineering room to equip themselves with weapons," I tell her, and she goes ahead to deal with everyone.

"Julia, I'm only going to ask this once: what did Peter do to you?" I plead with her. But she just shakes her head as a single tear rolls down her cheek.

"It has nothing to do with Peter. Yes, we had a fight, but this isn't about him. I...I had this dream last night about today. And Adam, I beg of you to please not make me talk about it, because I'm afraid that if I do, it'll just make it more real," she answers before she walks past me, heading for Cassia's healing academy a few doors down.

I watch her as she goes, rattling my brain with scenarios as to what kind of nightmare, what kind of Julia's mental horror movies, could have brought the once brave fighter crashing down to this fragile shell of herself.

But I remind myself that there are bigger issues at hand, and I turn to see that my other sister, Samantha, is getting the element-empowered lined up along the entire perimeter of the city. All of them have guns slung on their backs and knives strapped at their hips from Maria, and our police force stands behind them in the defensive position as well.

Once everyone is in position, I take in the sheer amount of people trying to protect us. Element-empowered stand along the entire circle of the city. For every one element there stands two policemen behind them, guns already raised at the woods in case we are attacked.

And then finally, the fire reaches the outskirts of the city. The smoke manages to get through the invisible barrier, but I suppose it's better than the flames themselves. Like a never ending wave, I cannot see past the orange mass as it eats away the woods, unsure if there will be anything left.

"Now!" I hear Maria yell.

Everyone with the power of elements raises their hands, and the fire transforms into a wall of never ending flames, an extra shield to protect us from attackers. All the different shades of orange illuminate the city, so bright that it's almost blinding.

The phenomenon is beautiful and yet painful to stare at, and I find myself contemplating how the two can be the same in a way.