There was a silence in the room after Octavia brutally stabbed Pike and dramatically exited without saying anything. Clarke and Bellamy stared in the direction that she left. Neither were upset about Pike's death, and felt that Octavia deserved her justice. For now there were other matters on Clarke's mind.
Bellamy broke the silence, "Not yet? What do you know?"
"The nuclear power plants left on Earth have begun melting down…we have 6 months before the radiation starts killing us off," Clarke stated. Her heart ached with the knowledge, now she debated if she really made the right choice pulling the kill switch. She could have had Lexa again…Clarke pushed those thoughts out of her mind. She made a personal sacrifice for the greater of her people, or at least she hopes so.
"Maybe there's another place like Mount Weather?" Bellamy offered.
"What are the chances of us finding a place like that?" Clarke felt defeated at the moment, and no longer wanted to discuss the possibility of the human race being wiped out.
Bellamy put his arm around Clarke, "We'll figure something out, like we always do," he said reassuringly.
Clarke nodded and placed her head on his shoulder, allowing him to comfort her for the moment. She closed her eyes, and her mind immediately wandered to Lexa. Clarke was able to see her again when she was in the City of Light, she slightly smiled at the thought of the Commander. Suddenly it occurred to Clarke, who is going to be the next Commander, now that all the Natblidas were killed by Ontari and surely Ontari was dead herself.
Abby walked over to her daughter, followed by Marcus. "Clarke, we should go back to Arkadia, the grounders need to figure out their own hierarchy."
"I'm sorry Mom, but I can't. I can't leave all these people with no direction to go in. I'm going to help them find a new Natblida to take the place as Commander. I'm one of the few people who knows the ritual at this point, besides Murphy." Although Clarke was Skaikru, she also loved Lexa and wanted to make sure her spirit found the right person. Clarke felt a sharp pain rip through her heart from thinking about Lexa again. She felt the urge to cry overwhelm her, but Clarke took a deep breath in and held it to prevent any tears from falling.
"Clarke, you owe no obligation to the Trikru at all," Abby wasn't about to let her daughter get sucked into grounder politics again.
Marcus finally spoke, "I agree with your mother, Clarke, let them find a new Night blood on their own, and handle it like they have always done."
"I've made my decision," Clarke stated. She no longer saw Abby or Marcus as chancellor, or even above her. "I'm a leader now, and you have to accept that, Mom. I love you, and every time I will hope that we'll meet again, but I need to do what I feel is right."
"I'll stay here," Bellamy chimed in, "make sure that she's protected."
"They'll want your head," Marcus retorted, "you killed 300 of their people that were there to help us."
"Well maybe after this whole religious chip incident they'll forget about it," now that Bellamy had Clarke back he wasn't about to leave her side. Plus he knew that Octavia would want to stay here as well. She no longer felt like she fit in with the Skaikru.
"Fine," Abby threw her arms up in defeat, "just know that you are always welcome back in Arkadia at any point."
"On other matters, we need to talk about what I discovered when I was with ALIE," Clarke said solemnly, "nuclear plants are melting down and soon the radiation will be killing us. I want to find a new Night blood quickly, so that the grounders and us can travel to somewhere safely together. I know they won't follow us unless they have a Commander. They just don't trust us enough."
With this new information, Marcus was more confused now than ever, "Clarke why don't our people start finding somewhere we can survive rather than dwelling on Trikru matters?"
"We will need them to survive," Clarke was tired, no one else understood how important it was to keep everyone together. She glanced at the table where her mother put down the flame, and wished that Lexa was here now to help her. Together they would be able to get their people to eventually follow the same laws.
"If you don't find a Night blood after a month, we should seek shelter from the radiation for just our own people then," Marcus suggested.
Clarke didn't find that entirely unreasonable, it would just make her more determined than ever to find someone to become the new Commander. "Clarke, that's not a bad idea," Bellamy said exactly what she was already thinking.
"Fine, it's been decided then, Bellamy, Octavia and I will stay here and everyone else should return to Arkadia," Clarke verified what was discussed. "We will keep in touch about our progress. Maybe you could start sending out groups to search for anywhere safe from the radiation?"
Abby nodded at her daughter, she found it hard to believe that her daughter was the one giving the orders. Marcus took Abby's hand into his and started to lead her so they could collect the other Arkadians to go back. Bellamy stood up and followed as well, leaving Clarke in the room by herself. She allowed herself to smile at the thought of her mother being happy with someone. Quickly though, images of Lexa filled Clarke's mind again. She could only think of Lexa when she thought of happiness. Clarke inhaled sharply trying to stop Lexa from invading her mind.
I'll always be with you, Lexa's voice echoed inside Clarke's head. How, Clarke wondered, how could Lexa always be with her. She was here living and breathing, and obviously Lexa wasn't here. Clarke only had memories of her and nothing else…
"You weren't supposed to leave me like this," Clarke whispered to no one. Finally alone she allowed herself to grieve Lexa.