Powers

Chapter 17: It's Over

Even with my head screaming to go back to it's silent state, I had to push myself. I had to be the leader people wanted and needed. Mark helped me tremendously. He was exceptional at not giving up hope. He never stopped supporting me even when I didn't want anything to do with him. And for that, I am forever grateful.
"Chiefs" the commander bowed on his knees as we entered.
"There's no need to do that, Commander. We aren't exactly Chiefs yet" I nodded.
"Of course" he stood.
"What have you got for us? And how quickly can we execute this? It's time this war ends. We need all these people off this island and back to the mainland" I insisted.
"The plan is simple and can be executed as early as two days as long as we get the numbers, which is easy. Anyone who is deemed unnecessary will be placed on the boats and sent away before we engage. They will bring a message to the Chiefs there requesting a large boat to come retrieve us at the end"
"You," I pointed to the one with the clipboard. I still didn't know his name.
"Yes, sir?" He seemed startled by my sudden command.
"I want that list of everyone and their powers here as soon as possible"
"Of course, I will be right back" he ran off.
"Alright, what's this plan?" Mark asked as he crossed his arms.
"It's quite simple. We've established that the strongest of them are in a two room radius of their leader. The weaker ones are generally scattered around the mansion." I watched as he drew in the sand.
"Do we know what powers we're up against on the outside? And if there are any traps of any sorts" I questioned.
"We have a trap here and here. Most powers are weak as well. We've got small breezes, hail, things like that on the outside. We've got huge chances. Considering we have two extremely strong people from our side, within their operation"
"Which ones are those?" I asked as I kneeled down at the diagram. If we could gas the people inside, or simply I could release a semi toxic plant in the room to temporarily put them to sleep.
"We have Phoenix, and Sophie" Phoenix was an oddly familiar name to me. I couldn't place it however.
"Wait wait. Phoenix. Who was that?" I asked Mark.
"The girl who saved Ethan, and the one who is now his girlfriend" Mark seemed surprised that I had forgotten her.
"Oh right" but now I couldn't gas that place out. She was in there and I knew she meant something to Ethan. Probably everything.
"What's your opinion, Chief? What are we going to do?" The commander asked.
"I don't know. I have to think of something that won't be lethal to those people but is efficient" I slammed my fist down on the table.
"Jack, think of all the other people on the island that want off. If we just sacrifice a few more"
"No. Ethan's girlfriend is in there. I refuse to kill her too."
"Chief, I think it would be best if we could simply get rid of them."
"Absolutely not! You will not tell me what to do! And neither will you! This is my choice! So I'll be damned until we find another fucking option!" I pointed at the both of them before I stormed out of the tent. Ethan was there. His face was red and tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
"You want to get rid of Phoenix?" He whimpered.
"Absolutely not. I'm not letting her die" I stated firmly.
"But I heard you guys saying you wanted to kill everyone in that building"
"And I said no. No one can override my rule. Not even Mark. No matter what, I will always have more power" I stood beside Ethan.
"So she's not dying?" He wiped a tear off of his cheek.
"No. She's not. I can see she means as much to you as Mark means to me. So I have no right to rip that from you" I patted his shoulder.
"Right. Okay" he sniffled.
"Seriously you have nothing to worry about. I will get her out of there even if it could cost my life" I ran that through my head again. Maybe poor word choice, but still.
"Thanks, man" Ethan let a small smile onto his face.
"Now go continue what you were doing" I sent him off. He nodded before walking to the orchard. 
I decided against going back to that tent. Things were set as well as could be. Even if it were extremely immature of myself, I felt like a walk would cool myself off. I calmly strode down the wide path in the centre of the small camp. I got down to the beach where I promptly plopped myself in the sand. I ran my fingers through the sand, creating a small, repetitive pattern. I breathed with each stroke. It really did help me calm myself down.
I then heard the sand crunch beside me. I saw Mark's distinct shape as he sat crisscross.
"I'm sorry for pushing you back there. It's just, I find it a bit hard to figure out what ticks you off nowadays. You're so different now, it's like being in love with a completely different person" Mark huffed. I didn't respond for a bit. I had to think of what I wanted to say. Filter the unnecessary from the necessary.
"I get what Phoenix means to Ethan, so if I were to be in his position with you, I know I'd react the same. And I would've have fought till the end to know you were okay. I just find it so easy to fit myself into someone else's shoes, I can forget what it's like in my own. I admit, I have lost myself these past few months because I've been having to reinvent myself" I responded.
"Okay, that's a good place to start. It's nice to know what's going on in that head of yours" he sighed.
"What?" I looked over at him.
"What, what?" He raised an eyebrow at me.
"You sighed. How come?" I questioned.
"I just can't believe it's going to finally be over. Back at the mainland is going to be so crazy. I mean, we're going to have to get married eventually, then have a ceremony so we become Chiefs"
"You mean home? The mainland? But yeah, that does sound like a pretty big list to complete" I added. I just couldn't ever seem to call anywhere but with my family, home.
"Home isn't the word I'd use. It's a temporary home, really. This island is what I'd consider to be home. It raised us, after all. I don't care what I've seen here, it's where my roots with you began, and where they will continue to grow" to me, he was being too nostalgic about this place, but home was really wherever he was. My mind couldn't decide.
"Sirs! Sirs! We have a white flag!" A voice screamed. I whipped my head around to see the commander with Betty. Mark and I bolted up.
"What do you mean? I thought we had to fight still!" I gasped.
"Betty spotted a white flag while on her post" the commander spoke.
"Show me" I demanded. Betty immediately pulled me up.
"Right over there" she pointed. It was obvious as day. A white blank sheet rising from a huge cloud of smoke.
"Betty, grab Mark and bring us. Then you'll leave us, and get on that boat. You have authority now to get that boat on the way with everyone who has priority" I instructed. She nodded her head.
"Yes, Chief" she then pointed her hand towards the ground. A huge rustle of the trees pointed out where Mark suddenly shot up off the ground. Aside from the look of utter shock on his face to the twigs littering his hair, I couldn't decide what to tell him.
"What's going on?" Mark sputtered suddenly as we began moving forward.
"White flag" I pointed ahead. There was still a steady plume of smoke rising. Something had gone awry.
Betty landed us just outside the plume of smoke. It was right outside the gates of the mansion. There were people lying everywhere.
"Betty go" Mark pushed her until she went. The smoke was spreading through the forest now. It burned my lungs as I stepped forward towards one of the bodies. The clothing on their back was already singed towards the back.
"They got burned" I observed the charred skin on the sides. I didn't even want to turn the body over, in fear I might not be able to stomach it.
"Jack, we gotta check for survivors. Phoenix, remember?" Mark rushed me. He grabbed my hand, pulling me through the smoke, which only grew thicker as we went closer to the mansion. I began hearing a rumble and seeing light.
"Holy shit! It's still on fire!" I exclaimed. Mark went into firefighter mode. Waterfalls of water rose from him, dousing the fire. I didn't know what to do. In this kind of situation, I was practically useless. Except the stupid idea I decided to pursue.
"PHOENIX!" I shouted. I ran into the burning building. I ran into the thick smoke, barely being able to see the falling apart structure in front of me.
"JACK!" I heard from behind me. Mark shouted for me, but I ignored him. I ran deeper into the building.
"Phoenix! Where are you!?" I tried to remember which way I had to go, but seeing towers of burning fires around me disturbed my memory. It felt like my skin was sizzling off my body.
"PHOENIX!" I shouted again. I ran, and ducked beneath a falling beam.
"Help!" I suddenly heard the small shout over the roar of the fire. It was trailing from up stairs. The stairs, however, were on fire as well. I took a huge breath in before I put Phoenix ahead of my own life. I could survive this, she couldn't. I felt the fire lick my skin. I shouted out in pain as I felt the fire clearly burn into my body.
"Phoenix!" I shouted once more.
"I'm stuck! I'm in the master bedroom!" I finally had some directions. I took off down the burning floor. My foot suddenly disappeared into the floor. I nearly fell through except I caught myself with a vine. Which would burn soon if I didn't pull myself up. I yanked myself up, now seeing the disgusting amount of slivers in my leg. I shook off the feeling, jumping through one last wall of fire before I spotted Phoenix. She was trapped in a corner. The bed was set ablaze, where I'm pretty sure leader had been killed. One issue, there was a huge hole in the floor. Not to mention that the roof above her was about to fall. She wasn't fireproof. She could die easily. I made one more split second decision as I heard a cracking sound. I launched myself through the air, clearing the hole. I grabbed her shoulders. As I watched the roof above collapse, I grew a thick amount of water logged plants in a sphere around us. I collapsed immediately.
"Jack! What the hell!" Was the last thing I heard before I passed out.
I didn't wake until I could've sworn I saw sunlight. It broke through the thick layers of plants. I didn't move. I just lay there, feeling dead.
"I found them!" I heard someone shout. I shut my eyes again, and when I opened them again, I was halfway through being pulled out of the plant coffin.
"Jack, Jack I'm here. Wake up." I was hurriedly placed on the ground. No doubts that the voice calling out to me were Mark. "Why isn't he breathing?!" I could hear his frantic calls out to other people. "He's not breathing!," Mark shouted. Suddenly I felt him giving me cpr. "Cmon Jack! You aren't supposed to die! Don't do this to me!" He screamed. One last hit to my chest sent a painful lungful of air into me, followed by a cloud of soot as I exhaled. "Oh my god, thank god! You're okay!" Mark pulled me up into a sitting position where he proceeded to pull me into a tight embrace. I barely had time to start breathing normally.
"How is Phoenix?" I coughed. I didn't see her.
"She's fine. Everything is okay now" Mark sighed. Mark just held my still limp body in his arms. I didn't feel like moving either. I was still healing, and I was sore. I noticed around us the blackened remains of the mansion. There was absolutely nothing left. We weren't even on the second floor anymore. "Here, try to hold yourself up" Mark slightly pulled himself away from me. I winced with the effort I used, but I still held myself. I looked down to see the burns still etched into my skin. The slivers had all but disappeared. I was covered in soot from head to toe.
"Phoenix!" I watched as Ethan bolted his way through the thick piles of ashes and debris. He tripped a couple of times before he latched himself onto Phoenix. She was as black as I was. Only her eyes showed from beneath all the soot.
"We did it, Jack. We finally did it" Mark's presence finally became known to me again. He pointed to the sea where a cargo ship was floating. Smaller boats were flocking towards the island. Peace was finally in my reach. Watching my people now help each other, getting onto the boats as we grouped together. Mark and I were offered a flight over to the ship, but I chose to go with the people.
The island bled its last people as the ship began moving. I watched it grow smaller from the top deck. The small breeze blew through my hair.
"You should get washed up, Jack" Mark's voice broke the silence. It broke the facade of my stern expression. Suddenly every single emotion I felt the past few months balled up into one burst of a wail. Tears nearly exploded from my eyes. I turned to Mark, who gladly took me into his arms.
"Hey. Hey, it's okay. It's over" he soothed me. He took me down to my knees where he let me release every last bit of my sobs. I hated crying, but these last few months owed it to me. I held onto Mark, gripping my fingers into his shirt