Author's Note:

This chapter dives into some darker themes toward the end. Octavia's punishment will serve the story's plot in the future, and thus will be important several chapters down the line. The time spent on the Arc was more difficult than I thought it would be to write. This is something I think will help in developing the Linctavia relationship, and encourages the fighting spirit that Octavia possesses.

Octavia spent her first few weeks in isolation trying to accept her cursed fate and ignore the pain she had experienced by foolishly leaving her home. She never should have left her hiding spot; she knew well what would happen to her mother if she were to be caught. But she never imagined that she would be punished for her mother's crime as well. She knew her mother had been floated shortly after her meeting with Chancellor Jaha. Her mother and brother both told her that crimes are tried and punished quickly on the Ark. They must be to maintain control.

She had no idea what her brother's fate was. She hoped that he had been spared the same fate as her mother. Bellamy wasn't responsible for her existence, but he was trying to protect her when she was found. Octavia could do nothing but worry over him and hope that he was ok.

Octavia's days were spent in silence. She received three meals a day, which was an improvement on what her mother and brother had been able to sneak to her growing up. Food was monitored very carefully and dispensed so that no food would be wasted. Her nights were spent dreaming of what it would be like to have been born free on Earth. She abandoned her longing to be a normal girl on the Ark, she was no longer so naïve. She dreamt of land that stretched on forever, rich in food, and free from rules. In her mind, she created a beautiful woodland forest that she could spend her life exploring. In her little world, based off of the pictures of Earth that Bellamy showed her when she was young, Octavia was free to live with her little family. No one cared how many children were in a family, because there were more than enough resources for everyone.

Octavia had been in her small prison cell for a few weeks when she had a visitor. She was surprised when the door opened. She had been receiving all of her meals through a small opening in the door. Her cell contained a small area dedicated to her personal needs, and she exchanged her clothing and dishes through the small portal in the door, so Octavia had not seen anyone since the guards that deposited her here. Octavia looked up at the man entering her room in confusion.

The man let himself into the cell and closed the door behind him after glancing back at a guard posted outside. He stood in front of her staring down at her. "You look a lot like your mother. Did you know that?"

Octavia nodded, "Yes, my brother Bellamy told me that often."

The man nodded, smiling to himself. Octavia was wary of the man. "I was a friend of your late mothers. I have missed her company terribly this last month." Octavia felt a cold shiver trail down her back at his words. "It is such a shame that she was floated because you were discovered. Tell me, why did you leave your hiding spot, only to get caught?"

Octavia wanted to spit in the man's face for blaming her so directly, but she realized that he just stated what she had been struggling over since she was captured. She blamed herself, but she was trying to forget about everything that she had been through. "I don't know why I left. I had never seen outside that room, and I wanted so desperately to move about the Ark like everyone else. I wanted to be around the others, I wanted to see the stars and the Earth! I don't know why I thought I would be able to go about without being found. I was stupid, and I greedy." She let everything she had kept hidden, even from her own conscious thought, slip out. She felt tears start to well up in her eyes, but she forced them down, refusing to let those emotions take control.

She looked up into the strange man's eyes, and she could see the disdain he had for her. He relaxed his gaze slightly and said, "You are right."

Octavia was again shocked at the man's bluntness. "Who are you and why did you come to see me?" She wanted to know if this man's purpose in coming here was to get information out of her, or simply to torture her.

"I am Inspector Grus. I was in charge of searching the living quarters in the wing you used to live in. I came to have a look at the child that Aurora kept hidden, even from me. Your mother and I had a special relationship. I gave her information on when I would be coming to inspect her room, and she provided me with certain, comforts, if you will." He sneered as he spoke, and moved closer to where Octavia was sitting on the bed. "You are responsible for this. I knew she was hiding something, but I never thought it was something like this." He threw his hands out gesturing at Octavia. "After your mother was floated, I was brought before the council and questioned. They wanted to know why I never found you. I had no excuse, but I was honest in telling them that my men and I never suspected that your mother was hiding a child in her quarters. I was lucky that they believed me. I was demoted from my position, but I was spared my life. Your little trip cost me everything!" Grus was yelling by the end of his declaration. He started pacing back and forth across the small area.

Octavia had no words. She couldn't entirely blame the man for blaming her for everything that had happened to him, but she could feel no guilt over it either. "I had no plans on my trip out of the room costing anyone anything."

Grus sneered at her, "Well your little trip is going to cost you plenty." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of handcuffs. Octavia stood when she seen the handcuffs, "What are you talking about? I am to stay here until my eighteenth birthday."

He laughed as he grabbed her by the arm. "That is very true, that means we have about a year before the council will care about what happens to you. The way I see it, you owe me for never noticing you through the years, and for you spoiling my relationship with your mother." Grus placed on of the cuffs on the arm he held, and used his grip to maneuver Octavia back onto the bed. Octavia tried to fight him and keep him from cuffing her hands to the bed frame, but she was too weak. She later assumed that if she were not cooped up in her crawl space or their room for her entire life, that she might have put up a better fight.

Grus climbed onto the bed and hovered over Octavia. Octavia screamed as loud as she could, hoping that perhaps one of the guards would hear her and help her. He started pulling away at her pants and said, "Go ahead and scream all you want, my pretty, there is no one that is going to help you." Octavia thrashed around, trying to get him off of her. She managed to land her knee into his side, but it barely fazed him. Grus backhanded her cheek, and she had to blink a few time to get her vision to clear. She realized that he finished divesting her of her pants. She continued trying to struggle, but after he hit her again, she gave up. Octavia retreated into her mind, trying to pretend that this wasn't happening. She remembered what her mother used to say to her when she had to go into her cubby hole under the floor, "Fear is a demon. Close your eyes, tell yourself that you are not afraid. That is how you slay the demon." She repeated "I am not afraid" over and over in her mind, focusing on it as a mantra.

When Grus finally finished with her, he moved off her and stood at the edge of the bed. "I will visit again my pretty, and I hope that next time you do not try my patience like you did today. Mine will be the only face you will see until you are tried and punished for your crimes." He reached down to her and removed the handcuffs. She didn't even notice when he finally left.

Author's Note:

I hope that this chapter was not to depressing for everyone. I am working on chapter 3, tentatively titled "Deliverance and the Fall." We should make landfall in the next chapter, and chapter 3 should be a bit longer. Sadly we will not meet Lincoln in chapter 3, but I believe that he might be lurking around in chapter 4.

I would love to hear what you think about the story so far, so please leave a review and tell me if the story is good, or if I should change some things.