Holly (Oblivion)

Holly was the main protagonist of The Power of Five final novel Oblivion by Anthony Horowitz. She was a villager in Suffolk and she was the only survivor of her village, who teamed up with Graham Fletcher and Jamie Tyler to defeat the Old Ones once and for all.

Origins
Holly was born sometime in 2007. She was born Hermione but this was considered too upper class for the kind of girl she became. She had a good childhood at least, having loving parents and being sent to school, even if it was only from when she was five to when she was about nine. Suddenly, halfway through her life, the city of London was brutally blown up by a terrorist organization in league with the Old Ones. Holly didn't know this but the Old Ones had been living amongst humanity for a long time since they had broken out of their prison in the Nazca Desert, which was a gateway to Hell, and they had been waiting to ensure their victory. When their enemies, the Five Gatekeepers, had split up around the world by entering an interdimensional temple door in Hong Kong, which was then destroyed, they assigned the order of the end of the world to their agents, which was dutifully carried out. Holly had a mother, who may have perished in London itself.

During her childhood, Holly was raised by two adoptive parents. She lived in the village in Suffolk and they did their best to isolate themselves to defend their village, by digging up the road and even building watchtowers to defend the village from the Old Ones and unwanted attention.

Given that one day, the Internet and all electricity failed and disappeared forever, Holly had basically worked in a farm all her life, and had only drunk beer because the water and river was poisoned, and she had never washed. She described herself as ugly and unpleasant. But the villagers, despite their losses, were adamant that one day God would save them from their ordeal.

Jamie's arrival
Holly was assigned to the orchard, and this was her (unpaid) job throughout her life. In the ten years that had passed since the destruction of London, only one man had come to her village, named only "The Traveller." He was a mysterious man rumored to have once been in government. The Traveller was the only one to request Jamie Tyler stay in the village when Holly once found him injured outside the church. Holly found Jamie with a head wound and tried to protect him but two neighbourhood thugs arrested him and wanted to sell him to police for money reward.

One villager, Anne Keyland, also wanted to sell Jamie. Despite the village eventually accepting Jamie, Anne Keyland found an abandoned phone box in the village and used the Old Ones' dark magic empowering it to phone the police. The police said they'd be there very shortly. Jamie found out and got Holly to hide. The police arrived and killed Anne Keyland upon learning of her treachery. However, when Holly's adopted parents told police Jamie had already left, they began a massacre, bombing and killing the villagers. The Traveller pulled Jamie over and ordered him to leave, telling Holly to hide somewhere and proving he didn't care about her life. But Jamie ordered the Traveller to get Holly to come with them. The angry Traveller agreed reluctantly. On the way out they were accosted by Tom, Holly's friend, and he protected them by shooting all police who tried to gun them down. Tom was also dying of a gun wound and he sacrificed himself to let them escape.

The trip to London
On the way out as the village burned, the Traveller let Holly take steering on the boat as a psychological way of cheering her up after the village massacre. He told Jamie who he really was, Graham Fletcher, and also told Holly the reason they were going to London, to get Jamie to use the door in St Merediths church to get the Five to reunite in Antarctica to defeat the Old Ones permanently. Holly and Jamie were pursued by policemen and the Old Ones but they made it to Little Moulsford, whose upper class residents had become cannibals overnight. Jamie then made them escape and they were ambushed by police but the police and villagers killed each other in a fight. When they reached the tunnel outside London, Graham detonated the barge and ordered them to climb up the tunnel ceiling into a hideout the Nexus organization used. The Nexus was there to help the Five and Graham was an agent of Susan Ashwood, a blind medium and the leader of the Nexus.

Ashwood explained the end of the world in depth and said if the Five could meet, they would win. She arranged to have them travel to London but first they had a final meal together and Ashwood said she was dying. Holly voted to go to London despite the danger, and no one stopped her to her surprise. She said that's how she was there in the end.

In London, it was completely destroyed as explained, and Holly found the way in with Jamie, Graham and the others without much trouble. Holly also kept with Jamie and bonded with him through this time. It was even implied they might have fallen in love with each other at this stage.

When they came out of the safe house in London the next morning after witnessing the Giant Spider which was one of the Old Ones, Holly and the others found themselves ambushed by dogs, to their surprise. Then the police and Old Ones came and in the middle, they made it to the door because that morning before it all began Jamie had got the signal from Matt in his dreams. He rushed in with Holly through the church to the door and made it to the Antarctic because his twin brother Scott had sacrificed himself by unlocking the doors.

Final battle in Antarctica
Holly made it to Antarctica with Jamie and found the dying Scott, and the rest of the Five, despite Matt being dead because Richard Cole had had to sacrifice him due to the torture. It looked like the end had finally come and the Old Ones had won, and Holly was distraught at all the effort she had put in only to find it all seemingly wasted. But just as Chaos, the King of the Old Ones finally appeared to slay them all, Holly was the only one who had wits to shoot at him, the bravest thing she had ever done. Then, everything happened at once. Matt and Flint, who was Scott from the past, returned and formed the Five again, who stabbed Chaos in the heart with the rest of the Five, finally killing the Old Ones and banishing them, but before the gate could close, the nuclear warheads the Army sent in detonated in Hell, destroying the Old Ones forever.

Victory
Now free of the threat of the Old Ones, the world began repairing itself and Holly had kept a diary of her travels. She began to return to England with the Army and with the Traveller who she met again in London. There they found a village in Suffolk not far from Holly's original village, and Holly settled there with Richard, Graham, and the Nexus people and were soon joined by other human survivors. Thus civilization returned and peace was restored, and it was partly Holly's doing. Holly said she became a mother and grandmother in her time but its unknown who her husband was. It was said Jamie kept visiting her in her dreams telling her how good his life was now and how she, Holly, would soon join him along with Richard and everyone else. She also waited for her time to come when she dies and goes to the Afterlife, which is the Dreamworld the Five use, implied to be Heaven.

Nature
Holly began life as a normal person, but because of the end of the world she was reduced to a girl with limited wisdom and imagination - she wondered what was so Kentish about Kentish Town in London. She however was quick to learn, pleasant and full of humour, which is strong considering all the trauma she had of the country being destroyed and then her whole village being murdered.

Its odd despite Holly's assurance she wasn't pretty, Scarlett describes Holly as being a pretty girl.