The Djinn plays a sig­nif­i­cant role in the unfold­ing chap­ter, where the pro­tag­o­nist, hav­ing crossed over the rocks, meets Sol, who is strug­gling to recov­er from a cold swim in the sea. She is hypother­mic and phys­i­cal­ly weak­ened by the ordeal, need­ing urgent care and warmth. The pro­tag­o­nist, unsure of how to han­dle the sit­u­a­tion, wraps Sol in a dry blan­ket and gives her cof­fee, his mind over­whelmed by a surge of con­flict­ing emo­tions. While his pro­tec­tive instincts take over, a deep sense of anx­i­ety about her frag­ile state fills him, as he tries to keep her alert and engaged while they drift on their boat, Flower. His unease grows as he con­tem­plates the new vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty that has been intro­duced into his life, real­iz­ing just how much he desires to help Sol but also how lit­tle he tru­ly knows about what she needs.

As Sol’s fever breaks, a flood of mem­o­ries from an ear­li­er encounter with Alis­tair takes over her weak­ened mind. In a vivid, dis­joint­ed rec­ol­lec­tion, Sol recounts a moment when she helped Alis­tair, a fig­ure caught off guard by flames, by retriev­ing his glass­es amidst the chaos. She describes her­self as act­ing with the swift­ness and con­fi­dence of a djinn from Ara­bi­an Nights, dis­play­ing an almost mag­i­cal abil­i­ty to nav­i­gate through the per­ilous sit­u­a­tion. In her weak­ened state, Sol hands the pro­tag­o­nist two items: a water­proof match and Alistair’s heavy spec­ta­cles, which sym­bol­ize her tri­umph over adver­si­ty and her hid­den resilience. These tokens become phys­i­cal reminders of her strength and sur­vival instinct, offer­ing a rare glimpse into her inner courage and deter­mi­na­tion. The pro­tag­o­nist lis­tens in awe, fas­ci­nat­ed by Sol’s brav­ery, despite her frag­ile con­di­tion.

As Sol’s fever con­tin­ues to sub­side, the two work togeth­er on restor­ing the boat, prepar­ing to set out on the next leg of their jour­ney. Yet, the jour­ney is shad­owed by Sol’s lin­ger­ing health issues, as she still strug­gles with bouts of weak­ness and lack of appetite. Upon arriv­ing at a sea­wall, a seem­ing­ly peace­ful and serene place, the pro­tag­o­nist can feel the weight of con­cern for Sol’s health press­ing down on him. Though there is hope for the jour­ney ahead, the real­iza­tion that Sol’s con­di­tion could wors­en at any time hangs heav­i­ly in the air. Sol con­tin­ues to demand sto­ries from the pro­tag­o­nist, seek­ing com­fort and dis­trac­tion from her ill­ness, a request that the pro­tag­o­nist glad­ly ful­fills. These sto­ries become a life­line for both of them, offer­ing moments of peace and a sense of nor­mal­cy in the midst of their uncer­tain lives.

One of the sto­ries that res­onates most with Sol is the tale of Mol­ly Thorn, a young girl cap­ti­vat­ed by a mys­te­ri­ous pack­et of seeds. This sto­ry sparks some­thing with­in Sol, ignit­ing her imag­i­na­tion and pro­vid­ing a wel­come respite from her phys­i­cal dis­com­fort. Inspired by Sol’s new­found inter­est in sto­ry­telling, the pro­tag­o­nist intro­duces her to let­ters and the pow­er of writ­ing, hop­ing to fos­ter her cre­ativ­i­ty and give her a sense of pur­pose beyond her cur­rent strug­gles. Sol, ini­tial­ly hes­i­tant to engage with the pen­cil and paper, watch­es the pro­tag­o­nist close­ly, soak­ing in the lessons he shares about the impor­tance of words and how they can shape the world. As Sol’s under­stand­ing of sto­ry­telling grows, the bond between them deep­ens, with the pro­tag­o­nist real­iz­ing that this sim­ple act of shar­ing sto­ries could be the key to giv­ing her the strength she needs to nav­i­gate their uncer­tain future. Even though Sol remains frag­ile, the light in her eyes begins to shine a lit­tle brighter as she begins to grasp the pow­er of lan­guage and sto­ries, set­ting the stage for the rest of their jour­ney.