Green Lantern Rises

Part 24

I pull out my phone to text a friend for help, but realize I have a missed call from mother's lawyer from two days ago. I go back inside and listen to the voicemail. "Good morning, Alana. This is Lawrence Belmont. As a longtime friend of your mother, and as her attorney, it is my job to discuss the legalities of her death with you. This is tough for anyone, Alana, don't be afraid to reach out and-" I turn it off, uninterested in his pathetic excuse for sympathy. I'll just call him back in the morning. I shut my phone off and return to Hal and Hunter's house. I open the door to the two of them pacing back and forth.

"She's not answering her phone!" Hal yells with his phone to his ear. "Hal, relax," Hunter reassures him, "She's probably just asleep." I shut the door, which gets their attention, and ask, "Everything okay?" They both turn to me and Hunter speaks first, "Hal is freaking out because Haley isn't answering her phone, but it's eleven o'clock at night, she's not going to answer." Hal shakes his head aggressively, "No, no, she said she would text me when she got back okay and I haven't heard anything from her." Hunter sighs frustrated, "Hal, she could've gotten distracted by something and forgot." Hal grabbed the hair on the sidesof his head, "Hunter, you don't understand. Something doesn't feel right." He sits down on the couch staring at the floor.

I sit down next to him and ask, "Hal, what do you think we should do?" He slowly turns his head to me, "I think I should go to Oa." Excuse me, what? "How would that help?" He stands up, "I could ask some of the Lanterns for help finding her. They could spread out across the galaxy until they find her." He starts walking toward the door, but I wanted to convince him not to leave, "I think there are better ways of handling this. The Lanterns are probably busy anyway. Can you think of anyone that would want to hurt her or you?" He shakes his head, "The only person that would make this much effort to hurt me is-" He stops talking when he realizes who took her. "Carol." And without another word, he flies off. Hunter and I look at each other, "Carol?" He asks. I sigh and look down, "He thinks Carol took her. Which makes no sense. How could somebody who's dead take her?" I try to think of anything Carol could do that would affect Haley after she died. Nothing comes to mind until I catch a glimpse of my ring and remember the Green Lantern that I watched die. "He thinks she's a Sapphire," I accidentally say out loud.

"Stay here," I tell Hunter as I start out the front door, but he grabs my arm, "There's no way I'm staying here while my sister could be in danger." I snatch my arm away, "Hunter, I'm sorry, but you won't be much help up in space." He continues to follow me, "There has to be something I can do. I want to help save my sister." I began to get angry at his resilience, "You can help by staying here." He scoffs, but I continue, "Hal could be all wrong about this, she probably is just sleeping and she's gonna come back here worried that you two are worried, and you are the one who opens the door for her, literally and figuratively." He smiles, puts his hands on my shoulders and says, "Alright motormouth, but you have to promise me, and I mean really promise me.... that if I'm right.... I get to say I told you so." I roll my eyes, "Jesus Christ, Versace, just trust me." He nods, "I trust you to save my sister." I let out a deep sigh, "Glad that's finally cleared up. I was getting a little confused." His hands linger on my shoulders while he stares at me. I'm getting a bit uncomfortable, so I try to subtly leave, "The longer we wait, the less of a chance Haley has of surviving." I hear him laughing as I fly out and into space.

I decide to go to Oa to ask Kilowag for help finding Hal. I land on the green rock and spot Kilowag's rather large body. As I fly to him, I yell, "Kilowag! I need help finding-" He turns his body to the side revealing, "Hal?" He angrily sighs, "Alana, you shouldn't be here. I've gathered some Lanterns to go up against the Sapphires and it will be more dangerous than anything you've done before." I shake my head, "I promised Hunter I would bring her back, so I'm doing everything I can to help save Haley." I notice Kilowag smiling with an affirming nod, "Let her fight, Jordan. We need all the help we can get." Hal finally gives in and informs me of the plan, "The three of us will scope out the planet to see what kind of defensives they have prepared, when we're ready, I'll signal the rest to attack." We all nod and make our way to a bright, pink planet. We don't get very close when we realize there's already Sapphires flying around and creating various weapons with their stones. "I think we missed the war," I say looking at the battle zone. "They appear to be fighting each other," Kilowag notes. We fly a little closer and I say, "Maybe we won't have to fight them, they seem to be preoccupied with themselves." Kilowag points to a small pink building, "If they're keeping Haley, she'll be in there." The building is unguarded, so we all fly inside. Kilowag stands at the entrance while Hal and I search it. There are dozens of clear tubes filled with a pink liquid and creatures of almost every species.

"I found her!" I hear Hal yell and I quickly fly to him. She's unconscious, and only wearing a pink jumpsuit. "If we take her out directly, she'll be vulnerable to the dangers of space," Hal tells me. "So, we take the whole tube?" I ask and he shakes his head, "We have to create a shield around her and then break the glass." I tap the glass. It's so thick, it could be bulletproof. "How are we supposed to focus our power through that?" I ask but before Hal can answer Kilowag yells, "It's getting really bad out here, you guys should pick up the pace." I roll my eyes, "Why is time always so pressuring?" I take a deep breath and activate my ring, "I have an idea. I'll create a bubble around both of you, then you'll break the glass, and create another bubble around her, so I can release mine." Hal smiles at me, "Smart girl." He follows my plan perfectly and Hal carries Haley to the exit. "Are we ready to move?" Kilowag asks, "We have a clear opening right now." Hal and I both nod and follow Kilowag out and off the planet. The war is much louder now than it was before we got here. I look back and ask, "How many people do you think they're willing to sacrifice? Aren't they supposed to be all about love?" Hal answers, "It's crazy what love can drive you to."