CRASHED ?

=CHAPTER TWENTY SIX=

"That doesn't mean anything," he said, shifting a little but not moving his head up. "Sparna cared about me, yet she's still dead. Well, I think she cared about me." He paused. "I don't even know any more." He was trying to sound angry but the sadness still showed.

"Of course she cared about you," Ty reassured, moving closer to him. "She thought of you more than anyone else. She knew you could handle yourself. She didn't want you to hold her burden and worry about her anymore. This was all for you."

"Bullshit!" he yelled, finally looking at Ty. "She did the worst possible thing she could do! Leave me! Leave her little brother!" He looked out into the woods, the water in his eyes shining in the almost-morning light.

"You have the right to be upset," Ty admitted. "Just don't let it taint your view of her. She was your sister who looked after you for fourteen years, do you really want to remember her as someone you hated?"

His anger softened from rage to hurt. "I can't hate her. I can't do it. She was so nice... so brave... so caring... I just never thought that she... that she would..."

Then, he broke down. A storm erupted from those small, shiny eyes of his, his pale, shaky hands cradling his face. Ty reached their arm over to the shoulder away from them, gently pulling him closer to them. He rested his head on their shoulder, putting his hands around their torso, squeezing when he needed to. Ty stroked his shoulder, letting him cry. Nico occasionally mumbled things, Ty shushing him in response to calm him down.

There still weren't any other sounds. No bugs, no leaves rustling, no water flowing. Just Nico. Just Ty. Just the two of them. And if it was just them, nothing could hurt them.

***

The funeral was held at right after dawn. Just like Quinn's, they made a memorial with flowers. However, since they didn't have Sparna's body, they didn't have any digging to do. 

Nico said a thirty minute long speech. He talked about how he and his sister shared secrets, how they went as Peter Pan and Wendy for their fifth and seventh Halloweens, and all the family traditions they had around Hanukkah. He had to stop every few seconds, but nobody minded.

Talon was next. "I... I don't know what to say. Um, Sparna is-" She paused, then restarted. "Sparna was one of my best friends. Her parents and Nico were like a second family, where she was my sister. I wish she knew how much she meant to me." 

Then, she looked at Nico. "She once told me that, if something ever happened to her, that I would take care of her brother. I said of course." Nico smiled in a sad but grateful way.

"I loved her. I really did," she continued. "I hope she's in a good place now."

With that, Talon stepped down to join Nico by his side. She grabbed his hand. 

It was Marisa's turn. "I wish I was better friends with her. I mean, she was great, and we did spend a lot of time together, but I still wish we were closer. She saved Eira from a monster once. That was really cool of her." It was obvious that Marisa was trying to hold in her feelings to make everyone more calm. She tried to laugh in gratitude, but it sounded more like a laugh of fear. 

"She also never gave up when it came to helping us. When William had his reaction, she kept looking for something to save him. She also risked her life for the good of the group and had the idea to go out and get food. She was really selfless, and the most caring person I knew."

A single tear fell down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away before anyone could see it. "Thank you, she said quietly."

"Does anyone else want to say a few words?" Zeke asked.

There was a moment of silence. Then, Dylan cleared his throat. "I just wanted to say that, uh, I shouldn't have been so hard on her." He bit his lip. "She actually did a lot to help, and she was a great leader. Better one than I ever was."

He looked both genuinely sad and guilty, two emotions no one had thought Dylan would ever show. 

"She was pretty great," Jayed said, teary eyed. He didn't know Sparna as well as, say, Talon or Nico did, but he knew enough to tell that she was a good person. When Nico and Ty first went missing and they were out looking for him, Sparna wouldn't stop worrying about her brother. She seemed really nice.

They wrapped it up after that. They said their final best wishes to Sparna, and mostly everyone left. However, Nico couldn't bring himself to leave. He found himself staring at the the piece of bark they used as a headstone and got angry. Was this all she got? A piece of sad, wimpy bark and two flowers? His sister deserved so much more than that. 

"See what you did to us?" he whispered. "We're all a fucking mess."

He didn't get an answer. Of course he didn't. He would never get an answer from her ever again.

His eyes started to fill up with liquid, but he pushed it away. No, he wasn't gonna cry again. He was done crying.

Suddenly, he felt the a hand on his shoulder. He flipped around, expecting to see a towering figure, but instead it was a sitting one. Talon slide towards him, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"You okay, buddy?"

He laughed sarcastically. "Yep. I'm just fine."

Talon frowned. She grabbed Nico's hand. "You know she loved you, right?"

"You don't have to tell me this, I already know."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

Nico shook his head. "No, don't be sorry. You're just trying to make me feel better."

Talon bit her lip. "You can visit me any time you want, Nico. If you get lonely. You know how my parents adore you. I know it will never be the same without her, but it might help to be with someone."

"Yeah, I'd like that." He tried to smile, but nothing came out. Just the frown he was already wearing. Talon put their interlocked hands between hers, and kissed him on the forehead.

"You've always been like a younger brother to me. You know that, right? I love you. I will never let anything bad happen to you."

Nico sniffed. "Something bad already did happen, Talon. Something really, really bad." He didn't exactly cry, but the pain took over his whole body, and he let Talon hug him, cradling his head and his fragile bones.

When she let go, she kept holding his hand. "I think it's time to go back to the group."

Nico nodded sadly. He stood up, helping Talon to her feet. She leaned on him, and he grabbed her arm around his shoulder to make sure that she wouldn't fall. He took one last look at the bark and grave area before slowly walking away.

When they had arrived at the camp, it was complete and total madness. Jayed had his hand to his mouth, grabbing onto Hedi's arm so hard it must have lost circulation. Some people were still crying from the funeral. But most of them stared in shock at what was in front of them, which was much worse. Marisa had torn down every single branch from the trees in the area, and broke those all in half as well. "Stupid! Fucking! Island! With! Your! Stupid! Fucking! Monsters!" she yelled, breaking a stick after each word.

"What's going on?" Nico asked.

"Marisa's gone mad," Hedi said, staring at her in fear. "I think she kept her emotions bottled up for too long."

"Marisa, calm down..." Zeke started, grabbing and hugging her to try to get her to stop. But she broke free.

"We need to get out of here!" She screamed. 

"How?!" Dylan defended.

"I don't care, but I can't stay here a minute longer! Well over half of us died here, and I can't stand it happening to anyone else!"

A/N

Last update in 2018

7:30 right now

Happy New Almost Year, guys