Chapter Text
Airy is dead.
Completely, and utterly dead.
He had promised to bring back the contestants back today.
Liam would've made sure he did.
But he's dead now.
Either by pushing himself off, or it being a stupid accident. It doesn't matter.
He's dead.
He's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead
Liam repeats to himself for what seems like hours on end as in front of him lays the corpse of his and their abducter. A phantom of what has been done to all the contestants and the previous ones.
He stares at him for a moment longer, before throwing him into the pond. This man doesn't deserve a proper burial, no. As the body hits the water, it splashes back on him, cold, and wet on his jeans, but he doesn't pay mind to it.
He strolls past the waterfall where the cave is and starts walking towards it, not looking back, moving the vines to the side to reveal the bright, white screen of the computer and The Plane next to it, still plugged in.
Liam moves towards it slowly, sitting down in front of the screen and staring at it, or perhaps simply spacing out.
He doesn't have Texty to tell him how to teleport everyone back. He doesn't have the notes Stone gave him. And...well, he doesn't have Airy to live up to their deal, his promise.
It felt like everything was slipping out of his hands. He doesn't know what to do anymore, and by the time he'll figure out they'll all probably die.
Speaking of which-
Liam writes his full name, just incase. And Bryce's too. And he should probably write everyone else's as well but he can't remember. But he swears he saw their names somewhere...on a website.
Right, the Plane Database.
He runs towards the computer and as soon as he sees that there's an internet browser on it he immediately opens it, the search engine greeting him. He hesitantly types in 'www.planedatabase.com' and presses enter, putting his chin on the plam of his hand as he waits for it to finally load up. And when it does, Liam freezes in his place.
Three options appear on the mainly blank screen
Season one
Season two
And...Season three.
Liam repulses at the sight again, but nonetheless, he proceeds to go to the s2 contestants' page. And writes everyone's name on the wall, staring at it afterwards. He notices the Plane, dimly glowing, and slowly walks towards it.
The contestants...his friends were still stuck on that darn sphere. From what he can see, they had formed a little crescent, probably comforting each other. But they're too small for Liam too see them clearly.
They look tiny, just mere insects he could crush.
He goes back to the computer, only now noticing the little microphone on the desk. He tries to find the words to tell them, but fails. Whatever, he just wants to talk to them again, to Bryce and Amelia again.
He presses down the button, clearing his throat before speaking
"H-hey guys..." Liam hesitantly says, his voice barely shaking.
"LIAM?!" Bryce and Amelia basically screamed after a second of processing his voice, sudden relief hits all the three of them
"Yeah, it's me!"
"How are you here?" Bryce asked worryingly
"I-I'll explain later...I'm just...happy to hear you again.." Liam starts to tear up a little
Eventually everyone joined in, talked with him, asked him questions about how he's been and where he is. After a while, they quieted down a bit
until Charlotte asked
"Well, since you're here, have you met Airy? He set up a challenge a while ago but he didn't return for whatever reason."
Liam paused for a moment too long, trying to decide whether it's worth telling them that he's gone. Of course not, they'll immediately assume that Liam murdered him, he doesn't want to be known as a killer or seen as the 'hero' for killing him. That just isn't him.
That isn't him.
He desperately tries to find the words to convincingly lie to them, since he never really was a good liar. He stays silent for a few more seconds before replying to her question
"I have, but I'm not really sure where he went..."
That was partially true, because he was unconscious at the time because a tree trunk feel on his leg, crushing down on him in an attempt to kill Airy.
"...why are you asking anyway." His tone suddenly switches to a slightly darker one
"Nothing, just curious."
Liam sighs heavily, looking back at the computer that still shows the contestants' page and rubbing his thumb against his chin.
"Alright, I'm going to try figuring out a way to get you all out of here now."
Everyone cheered together as he said that, giving him words of encouragement. He silently chuckled sheepishly
"Thanks guys, honestly, for everything." He starts to tear up for the third time now
"Talk with us later?" Bryce asked softly
"Of course"
Liam releases his finger from the button after what felt like a few hours, deeply exhaling. He remembers Texty mentioning something else about the website...something...
The kill command.
Texty said that they found it in the code of the website. The code...the inspect mode?
He proceeds to open the inspector panel where he sees a search bar above and types in the keyword. And there it is, something that could instantly kill someone without warning. Liam writes it next to his name on the wall. Of course, he didn't plan on using it...yet, only if it's necessary. Which it really isn't, although...
He frantically shakes his head and starts looking at the ceiling, emptily, the other planets' dim glow illuminating on his slightly wet, tear streaked face.
Eventually, he looks back at the computer, still showing the inspector panel, his vision a bit blurred. Finally, he notices that there's another string of code below the kill command. From what he can tell, it's probably to change the brightness of the sun. He copies and pastes it into the command prompt, changing the value.
He presses the mic button again
"Ok, I think I found how to dim the sun's brightness...probably." Liam fidgeted with his hand a bit
"Wow, that's helpful." Charlotte sarcastically says
"What? Do you prefer to sleep in the sun?" He firmly replies, a bit of a joking tone hidden behind that.
She rolled her eyes
He presses enter all while still looking at the Plane, worry washing down his face, as if this is some kind of a science experiment that could backfire.
The sun began to dim to a comfortable brightness for all of them to sleep in, holding a bit of a resemblance to a moon.
"You're amazing, Liam." Bryce warmly says after a few seconds. Liam could practically hear him smiling while saying that, making his breath hitch a slight before spitting out a "thanks".
He slowly started heading back, leaves crunching underneath his feet as he thought about what Bryce said to him. Though, there wasn't much to think about, it was just a compliment, no need to make such a big deal. He was already standing at the doorframe of the cabin where Texty's laptop sat on the table, a painful reminder that he's all alone on this one. He lays back on the bed Airy made him a few days ago, thoughts running around like pests in his mind. Eventually, he manages to block the thoughts out.
Everything will be alright, it had to be.
Everything will be ok
Is what Bryce told to himself ever since he returned to the Plane, comforting himself. He never thought he would return here again, but here he is. He didn't even realize what had happened, he couldn't, it was fast. Almost terrifying how fast he and Liam where separated. He kept thinking about this even up until now that Liam's back (well, technically), now, when he's wiping off the tears of joy Amelia spilled earlier, her hair sticking to her face.
"D-do you really think he'll be able to do this?" She suddenly asks softly, sniffling a bit
"Well...yeah."
Of course he would. Bryce would know, seeing how desperate Liam was to end this, even more than he himself was. A part of him wanted to believe that, because of that, Liam would surely come to get them out of here.
A part of him hoped that Liam would be here.