It all felt like a dream. Clarke stood on the metal edge, hands tied behind her back, with the endless precipice of the galaxy behind her, just opening right behind her heels. She trembled, yet kept her head high as hot tears streamed down her face. Everyone else with her, those responsible of poisoning Arkadia with their wild sins, stood beside one other, also feeling the deathly wind creeping up even from behind the closed hatch at their backs. They were all so young.
Let this be a lesson…
Clarke could hear the voice replaying in her mind…
To all Arkadians who feel the need to act impurely in the heavens…
Her mother wept in the distance of the on-looking crowd, wrapped in the arms of her father, who looked on worrisome back at Clarke…
Who took our love for granted, and forgot that we took their ancestors from the Earth to be closer to our hearts… and have these children born among the celestial plains…
Clarke's teeth chattered in regretful anxiety as she tried to maintain her pride, but her body betrayed any attempt of bravery.
You are henceforth cast out of Arkadia, forever exiled from your home and our attention. May you cry out to the sky 'til the end of your days, ever regretful of your actions, to be met with our silence to each of your prayers.
"Please don't do this," Clarke could hear another doomed soul beg the crowd, knowing that the gods eerily resided somewhere in this room. Clarke had never seen the gods, but could hear them… she heard them whisper to her every now and then. While many were enthusiastic about being contacted by the gods, it unnerved Clarke. It sent shivers down her spine when one would whisper in her mind just how beautiful she was, and just how much of a woman her body was maturing into. She did not want to be one of the "lucky ones" who the gods took for themselves to have loving company, but she knew she was on her way to becoming a favorite among some of them. The gods loved too much and without care for their humans. The gods were selfish, and that statement was made even more apparent when Clarke thought about the Grounders- more than seventy-five percent of the human species- the gods' supposedly favorite creation- left alone on Earth. They were abandoned by the gods once they took a particular interest in humans. Clarke could only imagine the chaos on Earth as the Grounders had to fend for themselves.
The story goes that the gods did not even dare to touch a human like a lover until one human convinced a god that they loved them with all their heart. The god believed it and did everything the human asked for, even to the point of destroying their enemies. Other gods got jealous and began to take human lovers for themselves, and soon each god was working for a select group of people. Soon, these gods got so tired of having to come to earth to be with their human lover that they just took their lovers up to the stars to be with them forever, and the rest is history.
It was a way to control the gods… that's how Clarke saw it … it wasn't about love. Her entire bloodline and existence came from people who manipulated the gods to kill for their selfish desires. Not only that, but because of her ancestors, the gods never wanted to return to Earth to take care of the other humans, despite their prayers and offerings. Since there was just so much human offspring in Arkadia now, the gods never ran out of someone to love… and it sickened her, and she let them know.
She had shouted during a community prayer that Arkadia was not a heaven, but a whorehouse, where everyone was simply kept by the gods to be fucked by the gods.
The gods would punish misbehaving humans in Arkadia every now and then, but because of Clarke, the gods had apparently reached the final straw. Everyone who had been caught doing anything remotely sinful after Clarke's burst of ungratefulness now faced no mercy.
Everyone was lined up here today because of her…
"Just get rid of her, she's the one who started all of this!" cried another voice in the line, his voice breaking as he croaked his plea.
Clarke didn't know how she was still alive at that point. With the fear of falling to Earth now mixed with the fear of being murdered by her own people, she felt like she was floating, and not standing on the edge.
"I'm sorry," Clarke tried to exclaim, but the words escaped her mouth as no more than a whisper.
As a last gift to you, we shall protect you on your journey to the ground… where you will survive the speed, atmosphere, and impact. Remember the greatness of our power through this last act, and lament that you have lost the privilege of witnessing it forever…
A large glass power-door began to close in front of the damned, separating them from the crowd. Instantly, all those standing beside Clarke felt an incredibly powerful gust of wind as the hatch behind them all open and before any of them could scream, they were sucked into the abyss of the stars.
There was no sound.
There was no air, yet there was no suffocation.
There was no freezing.
Just a strong magnetic pull dragging everyone through the black and starry sky, and closer to Earth.
Clarke could see the others falling beside her, terror on some faces, astonishment on others. Even Clarke couldn't keep the small voice in the back of her head from telling her that even though she was now eternally condemned, at least she could say that no one else would be able to experience this ever again. She was traveling through the solar system by the power of the gods without death or pain.
She could see a young man, whom she wanted to say was Bellamy Blake, trying to shout, but nothing produced from his vocal cords, despite how hard he tried, as evident by the veins bulging in his neck and forehead.
No air, no sound. She remembered learning that from one of the gods. She had spent much time learning anything she could, and it intrigued some of the gods to see her thirst for knowledge, and even bestowed her with rare information here and there. They had tried to convince her that all the knowledge she was raised with was all that existed, but she was too naturally witty, and kept trying to weasel more and more information out of anyone who knew anything.
As they continued to fall, Clarke soon began to feel some heat outline her body, and knew that they were finally entering the atmospheres of Earth. The warmer it got, the faster she felt they were falling, and soon enough, her ears painfully popped and she shrieked in pain as she covered her ears instinctually. Through her hands, she could hear the muffled screams of everyone else as they too endured the abrupt pain exploding in their ears. So much for a painless journey.
The constantly gaining speed of the fall created a thunderously loud rushing sound that filled their ears as the pain began to cease. The sharp wind began to take control of their limbs, tuning their bodies over and pushing arms and legs back and forward. The air shot through any loose area of their clothing and raced across the bare skin under their garments.
Clarke could start seeing deep green trees and golden meadows, obsidian and ashen colored mountains, aqua and green blends of water, and even what seemed to be wooden structures in the distance. Her heart began to palpitate at the reality of encountering Grounders. No doubt that they would be unwelcomed here. As if the neglected child would care for the favorite.
Clarke was surrounded by the sound of screams, as the group came into contact with the trees, fear setting in as their limbs became scratched by the abrasive branches. Blood streamed from the cuts from all around their faces and arms, clothes tearing as it snagged. There was too much pain and injury happening now, and everyone who was coming closer and closer to the ground began to be filled with the same fear. The gods had lied. They sent them to Earth safely just to have them die horrifically impaled and imploded by impacts.
Clarke's breathing picked up as her instincts were activated by this thought of fatal betrayal, raised her arms over her face to protect herself and came crashing into the side of a mountain, creating large boulders in her wake, as the massive stony debris came collapsing behind her. She tried to scream but could only gasp for air at each violent impact. Then, as she fell against the base of the mountain, finally lying still, she could feel blood flowing from open wounds. From her battered eyes she fluttered her sight open to see the dust and rocks surrounding her, and her blood feeding the grass underneath her limp body. Failing to stop her eyes from weakly fluttering once more, her eyes closed to what she repentantly accepted as death.