12. The Light

3.12 – The Light

Teaser:

Fi: How do people have a knack at certain things? Like, my mom's great at music. I'm not, but I'm good at other things, such as finding weird stuff.

But is there actually a physical figure that inspires people? That gives them that burst of talent? Some people believe that there are, and they think they're called muses. OK, so you get inspired, that's nice. But what happens if the muse leaves?

And what happens...if what we THINK is our muse, isn't?

The Molly Phillips tour bus turns into a grand parking lot. We see it driving into its narrow entrance way through tree, and then into a clear opening, where a huge parking lot is. Ned parks and everyone climbs off. "Well, here it is!" Ned says. "Wow...it's huge!" Fi says. "Just like Molly wanted," Irene says. Molly walks off last, frowning, and just looking around. "Moll, you OK?" Irene asks. "Yeah, mom, it looks like you're depressed again," Jack worries. "No, I'm fine. Let's go," Molly says, and they all walk into a huge building with a neon sign that says "Quinten Club." "Oh, you must be Molly Phillips!" a lady says, seeing the group walk in, "It's so nice to meet you!" she says, shaking Irene's hand. "No, actually, I'm her manager. THAT'S Molly Phillips," Irene says, pointing to her. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" the lady says, walking over to Molly, "It's so nice to meet..." But Molly cuts her off, "No one even knows me anymore!!" and she walks out. "I'll go see what's wrong," Fi says, and runs after her. "Mom?" Fi yells, looking all around, but not seeing her. She hears a blind rattle on the bus, and heads there.

"OK, ready?" Molly asks, back in the club. She's been convinced to try to play. "Yeah, let's try," Irene says. Molly plays one chord on the guitar, then stops. "Moll?" Irene asks. She stands up and throws down her guitar, crushing it, then just walks off stage, says, "Let's go to the hotel. It's not right." She walks back out the door, and this time, everyone follows, confused.

At the hotel, Molly is sitting in a window sill, which was built to have people sit in it. She looks out the window, sighing, and looking sad. She is lightly strumming another guitar she had. But she slowly sets this one down, and goes to fall asleep on the window sill. She sees a flock of birds flying around outside, and goes to touch the window, as if she wanted to be with them. But as soon as her hand touch the glass, there is a flash, and she sees different times of Fi with a ghost. She sees Fi trying to save the boy in "Family Reunion," then she sees the boy in "Fall," then Rick in "Twin," then flashes of the sea captain in "Mutiny," the banshee in "Banshee," Everett Patterson from "Strange Geometry," and the lady in "Doppelganger." Then she comes back to reality as Fi taps her on the shoulder. Molly screams, causing Fi to jump back and scream also. "Mom? What's wrong??" Fi asks. "Fi...you...you..." Molly says, scared, but she didn't know of what yet, "Never mind," she lays back down against the window sill. "Alright. I just wanted to tell you we're going down to lunch. Wanna come?" Fi asks. "Yeah, sure," Molly says, "I'll be there." "OK," Fi smiles, and goes to walk out. Molly sighs again, but gets up to go to lunch.

After lunch, Fi and Irene are waiting for Molly to come out of the restroom. "So...do you have any idea why mom's acting so weird?" Fi asks her, out of nowhere. "What? Oh, Fiona, she didn't want me to tell...but she said she's looking for her 'muse'," Irene says. "Muse?" Fi asks. "Yeah...the Quinten is famous for...inspiration. So Molly thought she might try it out," Irene says. "But...a muse...is something...paranormal," Fi realizes. Irene shrugs.

That night, Fi and Molly are in their room. Silent, Fi speaks up first. "Mom...did you come here...looking for your muse?" she asks. Molly looks at her, "Who told you?" "Irene..." Fi says. Molly sighs, then laughs a sad laugh, "Yeah...I don't care that she told you. It's just...after we got out of that depression, I thought everything would be OK...but by the end of that concert...after we were 'cured," as you say, I didn't feel...the magic. The inspiration. It just seemed...gone." "When did you first feel it?" Fi asks. "Well," Molly begins,<CLIPS INTERTWINED WITH MOLLY'S STORY> "Adrienne took me to Candlestick Park, in San Francisco, where they were having some band-fest or something. We got there, and me and my band sat backstage for awhile. Adrienne sat in the front row, ready to watch us. Right before us, a band called "RP" was to perform. "Daddy?" Fi asks. Molly again smiles, but then bites her lip,"Yeah. They performed...and during their performance, I looked up. I don't know why, but I did. I saw the lead in the band...your father, and immediately fell in love. That, is when I felt the magic for the first time." "Did he see you at the concert?" Fi asks. "Yeah...he turned his head my way sometime during his performance, and couldn't keep from looking back," Molly says, "Then we went on. All he did was stare at me." "...Something trying to get in! It hit me, hit me, hit me!..." "So what happened then?" Fi asks. "Well, to make a, well, little embarrasing story short, we were introduced. From there, we were good friends. Finally, after a few days, he asked me out. A couple of months later, we went to a family reunion, mine, and your great grandmother gave us...these rings," Molly says, rubbing hers. Fi also looks at hers. "Your father...was a big rock star, as was I, at the time. So we joined bands. We practiced, and we both noticed that something was missing. So we searched. And searched. And we finally found John," Molly continues. "Papa bear," Fi smiles. Molly smiles too, "Yeah. He also had a pretty famous band. So we chose him...and we became the Phillips-Kane Band. Rick's head roadie was already Ned...so we got him," Molly remisinces. "How does Irene fit it?" Fi asks. Molly smiles again, "Well, we originally we going to chose Evelyn, who you've met by now. Then one day, we got something in the mail, from an Irene Travia. She was working on a paper for college on frauds. And she found one...Evelyn." "Wow..." Fi says. "Yeah. Irene found out we were her next 'victims' so she traced us and sent us the letter telling us not to pick Evelyn," Molly says. "What did Evelyn do...you know, for fraud?" Fi asks. "She ripped a client off. She took his money, did a few gigs, and made him fail, and she got all the money," Molly says. "So how did Irene become your manager?" Fi asks. "I started to write to this Irene, back and forth, and we kinda became pen pals. She mentioned that she, herself, was minoring in music. After I talked it over with Rick and John, we decided to ask her," Molly says. "And she said yes?" Fi guesses. "Yeah, we got her. It was probably the best decision we ever made. Soon after, Ned and Irene met. They went together for about a year, then they got married. We put out our first album two years after touring, "Destiny." "The one with, like, the tornado on the cover?" Fi asks. "Yeah," Molly reaches in her purse and pulls out a crinkled sheet of paper. She opens it and gives it to Fi, "These were our cover choices for it. We picked, as you know, that one," Molly points it out. "You still have this?" Fi asks. "Yeah...I don't know why. I guess...I never cleaned out my purse," they both laugh. "Wow...we spent...all this time, when I asked you a simple question," Fi jokes. "Well, you asked!" Molly laughs.

"What is going on here? Why are you doing this??" Jack yells in his sleep. Ned just looks at him, worried. Jack is dreaming his vision again; he pans around the castle, then the red glow sucks him in. He walks down the "O'Shannon" hallway, without the pictures. He opens the two door, and sees the bright light. It subsides with the two torches moving out of the doorway. He walks into the huge, royal room, and walks onto the carpet. He walks down, with different people lined up on both sides of the carpet. Suddenly, one person bends down to Jack. "Carey!..." he says, in Jack's voice, but a little deeper. "I am not Carey...but I say, beware, Jack, beware," the Carey-look alike says, and goes back up. When he does, Jack can no longer see his face. Jack walks on, and another head comes down to him, taps him on the shoulder, and Jack jumps. "Jack, beware!" a Molly-look alike says. "Mom?" he asks. "No, but watch out!" she says, goes back up, and also disappears. He walks on, and yet another taps him on the shoulder. He turns and sees the old man coming down. He just smiles at Jack says "You're special." "What? No!" Jack says, as he backs away from it. He bumps into another knight that comes down and looks like Fi. "Jack..." she whispers, and touches his shoulder. He immediately springs up in bed, breathing heavily, as Ned runs over to make sure he's alright.

"No, Irene, I told you!" Fi hears Molly yelling in the club, standing outside the door. "I wonder what's wrong," Carey says. "I don't know," Fi replies, "But I'm worried." She walks in and sees a very stressed-looking Molly says to Irene in a calm, yet tense voice, "No, no gig." Then she walks offstage. As Irene walks but Fi, Fi tries to stop her, "Honey, not now!" and just walks by. "I think I'd leave my mom alone right now Fi. She seems to be in a bad mood," Carey says. "You think, Carey?" Fi says sarcastically. "Yeah," he says, also in a sarcastic way, "Hey, I gotta go practice, alright?" "Yeah, sure," Fi says, "See ya." She smiles and thinks to herself, "My mom seems to be wavering between a good mood and a bad mood." She walks over to her laptop sitting on a table in the club. She searches "Muse." "Searching...Please Wait." Fi opens the first link and reads, "Muse; a mythological creature that inspired people to do certain things and have special talents. It can come in any shape or form, from a human, to an animal, to a microscopic molecule. As long as they remain with you, you will have your talent forever. If it leaves, you lose it. However, if you find a new muse, you may be able to get your talent, value, or whatever you lost, back." Fi thinks a second, "She first felt the magic...when she met daddy..." She runs out of the club onto the bus, into her room. She sees a picture of Rick. She grabs it and several other pictures of him from her room. She runs into the community room and grabs the one from there. Then she goes into her mother's room, and grabs Rick's guitar. She bumps the strings, and the chord beginning 'Rick's melody' is heard. Fi smiles and runs back in the club with these items.

"Mom! Mom!" Fi yells, as Molly hears her backstage. She stands up just in time to catch Fi running through the door. "Fi! What's wrong?" Molly asks, "Why do you have all of those?" "Mom...just touch them," Fi says. "What?" Molly asks. "Just do it," Fi says, spreading the items on the table in front of Molly. Molly sighs, closes her eyes, and puts her hands on the objects. As she touches the guitar, she also bumps it, playing the same chord. Molly takes a very deep breath as she opens her eyes. "Mom?" Fi asks softly. Molly sighs again, this time, more agitated. "Fi...I appreciate what you're doing...but, I'm sorry, it's not working..." Molly says, running out the door as Jack walks in. "Fi...what did you do?" Jack asks. "Nothing, Jack, nothing," Fi says, also running out of the room. Jack watches after her, then turns to see the pictures of Rick. He walks over and holds back his tears, as he picks up the guitar and sits down, getting into playing position. He starts playing 'Rick's melody.' "How do you know that?" Irene asks, at the door. Jack looks at her, startled, "Irene...I didn't know you were there." "Oh, sorry, honey. I just came back to check on your mother. Do you know where she went?" Irene asks. "Nope, sorry," Jack says. "OK," Irene says, and walks away. Jack goes to play again, but stops, and sets the guitar back on the table, and he, too, leaves.

Molly sits on her the window sill in her hotel room. The window is open, and Molly tries to relax. A nice, gentle breeze rushes in. Suddenly, the wind picks up and blows strongly into the room. It blows sheet music sitting on the table in the room, everywhere. "Oh," Molly says, and gets up to pick the papers. The sun shines in Molly's room, and at that moment, seems to shine directly on one page. "The light..." Molly whispers. She picks it up. The staff paper has some chords written on the first line, but is blank otherwise. "This stack of paper isn't supposed to have anything written on it..." Molly says to herself. She stares at the chords. "Where have I seen those chords before?" she thinks. She looks across the room and sees her other guitar. She picks it up and plays the chords. "Why?" she yells, to no one in particular, "Why do these keep coming back?" She puts her head down, ready for tears, but the wind comes in again. It hits the guitar, playing the chords again. Molly looks up, sucks up her tears, and...smiles.

"Molly!" Ned says, as she walks into the hallway, where everyone is waiting. "Mom?" Jack asks, "Well?" Molly smiles, "Well, what? We're going to the club!" "Wait...so, what, we're...going?" Carey asks. "Yeah," Molly says. "Let's go!" Irene says. "Yeah!" Fi says, as they walk away. As they get on the bus, everyone hurries ahead of Molly. "What's going on, guys?" she asks. "Surprise!" everyone yells. Molly smiles as she sees a brand new guitar, identical to her old one that she smashed. "Guys, I love it! But where did you get it? My old one was out of production!" Molly says, picking it up. "We all pitched in a little," Fi says. "Well, shall we?" Ned asks, as he points to the drivers seat.

"Welcome, everyone, tonight to the Quinten Club! We have a very special performer for you now, Molly Phillips!" the emcee says, as the crowd cheers. Backstage, Molly hugs Fi and Jack. "I love you," she whispers. Then she grabs her new guitar and runs on stage. "Thank you!" Molly yells, as the band starts to play an intro, "Before we start, I would just like to thank everyone who...helped me to this performance, and to my band, who learned tonight's first piece, today!" The band transitions into the song.

Lunar

Flying away into

Space

Pretty

But not ready for someone's

face

An open window

Through it I see you through

But openin' it wasn't really what I

Had in mind to do

Word games

They help me get through the day

And in the end

They show me, yeah, show me the way

Gentle

It's what a nice wind

Tired

It's not anyone's

Gift

A broken mirror

Through it I see you through

But fixin' it up wasn't really what I

Had in mind to do

Word games

They help me get through the day

And in the end

They show me, yeah, show me the way

Party

Get ready for your

Life

Expand

The computer above your

Head

My water glass

Through it I see you through

But breakin' it up was what I thought

And planned in my mind to do

Word games

They help me get through the day

And in the end

They show me, yeah, show me the way

Molly closes her eyes as the band starts playing the solo. Then she opens them and looks into the audience, smiling at all the faces she never knew, and never will know. Then the solo ends...

Words

They make up more than half of

Love

It's something, that's there

A must

My eye

Through it I see you through

And in my mind I still

See you

Word games

They help me get through the day

And in the end

They show me, yeah, show me the way

Word games

They help me get through the day

Word games

They help me get through the day

Word games

They show me, yeah, show me the way

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