So the first part of this chapter is a little background for you guys. I planned on slowly revealing it, but I see how that has caused some confusion, so instead I wrote the first part to sort of explain some of my reasoning behind doing what I do with the plot. Also edited a bit of the last chapter to fix some things I may have rushed through, so go check that out first if you will.


The year is 2092. It has been 40 years since the bombs, the cataclysm that destroyed Earth. Planets have renewed in the radiation. The sun is no longer a ball of fire amidst a grey world. New and peculiar animals sprout around each river bend. It is 2092, 40 years after the bombs, and the world has never been a more dangerous place.

Karu dashes through the corridors of what was once his home, knowing opposition is not far behind. He can't spare anything a single glance, not the shambles of his once palace. Not the dead and dried remains of his once prized possesion wild vines. Not the crumbles and decay of his throne room or the blocked off access way of his favorite place to sit in the world, his garden.

No, he runs far beyond that to the middle of his solitude where he prays that he will find a familiar set of eyes waiting for him. He must be quick, as he is sure they aren't far behind.

He rounds a corner and bursts through a door, a door which had once brought him happiness and hope, that now only existed to conceal what was behind it.

"Ella!" His seemingly unstoppable sprint comes to a dead halt as he realizes that he is too late.

"Well well, so nice of you to join us Karu." The women sneers at him as she holds on to his houmon.

"Let her GO, Enga!" It is meant to come out as a command, but he chokes on it half way through and it becomes a plea.

"Now now, is that any way to speak to your Commander?" He sees her move her hand from Ella's trembling neck, sees the weapon move slowly down until it hovers dangerously near her heart. "We wouldn't want anything bad to happen here, now would we?"

"This is over, Enga. You hear me? Your rebels have been beaten back into the forest. Your generals have fallen," he watches her eyes shift quickly even as her face remains one of cold indifference. He slowly pulls the trinket from his pocket. "this is the only thing left of your leading general." He hucks it across the room to her, can tell when she registers the blood. Black like hers.

"What have you done to my child?" Her mask finally slips and her eyes look suprisingly glassy. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY GANIS?!" She presses into Ella with her dagger and he takes a step forward.

"I did nothing. This is your fault!" She continues digging and he takes a step back. "You did this, Enga. You caused all of this. You betrayed your people, violated the role of Commander, started this never ending war-"

"You're just weak!" She throws Ella aside and pounces on Karu, holding her dagger to his neck. "You're all weak." She hisses lowly in his ear. "I became Commander because I am strong, stronger than all of you! You see there is no place for weakness, not in the conclave, not in the world. I know that!"

Karu tries to breathe around the blade and continues to hold his head high. "You have it all wrong, Enga." His gaze doesn't falter from her eyes as he distracts her from the movement behind him. "You are the weakest of us all." Their eyes both widen as a squelch resounds around the room, covering the sound of a smaller one between them.

Enga looks down to see the tip of a spear running through her, black blood soaked. Her wide eyes struggling to remain open has she slumps and kisses the floor.

Ella drops her weapon in relief and smiles up at her niron, only to discover the blood leaking from his stomach. "NO!"

She barely catches him as he slumps to the floor and she tries to reason what she could've done wrong as she ghosts her hands around Enga's dagger. "No no no.."

"It's ok, niron. I- it's all o-over." Karu tries to hold on, but the blood seeps faster and faster into his clothes and out of his body.

She cries, hands still willing him alive, as he slips away from her. She hears the palace doors slam open and she knows she must leave him, must stop this madness.

"I promise Karu, I will never let this happen again. Do you hear me? There will never be another Enga." He tries to choke out some words, but all that comes up is blood and then he's gone.

Ella takes one final moment to kiss him and mourn the loss of the only thing she's ever loved. She leaves him then and takes Enga's dagger as gently as she can. She walks over and holds her breath as she takes some proof of her victory. Just as she hears more voices, she stands tall, allowing all who enter to see.

"The commander is dead. The war is over. And this will not happen again."


Clarke's eyes blew wide as her carriage strode through the gates of Polis. She hadn't been to a harvest since her father's passing, but obviously, she was missing out.

Clarke reached out to catch one of the colorful pieces of paper flitting past her. There were streamers hanging from every possible place. Children ran around with colored smoke, representative of the clans. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits and Clarke enjoyed seeing her people so content.

MonTaurus was in no way cut off from the rest of the clans. In fact, Clarke often extended invitations to guests from every clan. She was a social person and enjoyed spending time with her people. But never before had she had this many people around her and she could feel herself buzzing with energy.

Some of the citizens stopped to wave her in, children ran along side her cart, and she found the smile on her face unstoppable.

"It is a sight to see, no?" Clarke startled slightly at Garu's proximity to her, but she recovered quickly.

"It is beautiful." She looks out once more to the market. "I forgot how breathless this all can make you." The cart came to a stop near the entrance to the tower, where there were already gaurds standing along with Titus and a few hand maidens.

"Welcome, Haiplana. It has been ages, it seems." Titus welcomes and she can feel the underlying dig, but she rolls with it anyway.

"And yet it still feels just like home." She smiles at him despite his less than warm tone. "I hope you are not put out by a few extra guests." She says as Garu begins unpacking the cart already.

"Of course not. As you can see, the tower is more than viable to accomodate." Even under the guise of welcoming, Clarke still hears the clench of teeth through Titus' words.

"Great. Garu, if you'd like to get your people settled, I probably have things I should attend to." Garu was already 3 steps ahead of her, literally, already heading into the tower as some of the gaurds and hand maidens followed. A few gaurds and two young girls stayed back with she and Titus as he watched expectantly for her to follow. "Right. Lead the way."

They helped get Clarke's belongings taken to her room and Clarke and Titus left them to prepare everything while she went to the throne room to meet Lexa.

Lexa. To her chagrin, she had been thinking about the girl non stop since her visit. She was still so utterly floored at how things happened and couldn't believe that she'd fallen right into the other girl's trap. Regardless, Clarke had no intentions of backing down, only to prove a point. She could be civilized. It was ingrained in her. Lexa, however, had her doubtful.

Once they rounded the corner to the throne room, Clarke attempted to walk right in, but Titus stopped her before slipping in himself. She wanted to scoff. She and Lexa were equals. This was technically her throne room too.

A few moments later she heard Titus announce her, as if she needed it, and the doors opened. She tried her best to look regal and graceful, as always and kept eye contact with the commander the entire time. Titus fluttered out and they were left alone, except for the three gaurds around the room

"Commander, what a pleasure. Polis looks absolutely wonderful." Even through the fake formality, Clarke had to admit the truth. Everything looked so... lively. It was hard to stand still. She could not wait to interract with her people and enjoy the-

Clarke's thoughts were ended by the two earlier gaurds bringing a throne in and placing it to the left of Lexa's. Clarke withheld a grimace as she saw the cold metal and multiple weapons covering the thing, along with the dark furs in the seat.

"Is... that supposed to be mine?" Clarke hated sitting in her own throne for too long, and it was suited to her, reupholstered every so often to keep it from accumulating any given, carved from a rare light bamboo to support her and reflect in sunlight, make her chambers brighter. They also included some of the lightest and softest furs MonTaurus had to offer. This thing screamed uncomfortable.

Lexa tried not to appear affronted. She didn't see what was wrong with the throne. It had been an old one before she had fully come into her height. Otherwise, she would still be using the chair. "Is there something wrong with it?" Lexa asked, but she really didn't care to hear an answer.

"Well, I... suppose I assumed we wouldn't have spent much time in these or I would've brought my own." Lexa's jaw flexed and Clarke reigned in the growing look of discomfort while staring at the chair. "No disrespect to you Heda." Much, much disrespect. What type of person could spend hours on end in that thing?

"Well, if you get time you could send for yours, as we will be spending much time here throughout the next few days. However, as of now, we must get started." Lexa wasn't going to waste time getting another throne crafted, nor was she going to allow her old one to be altered. Clarke would just have to deal.

"Yes, of course." Clarke could feel the pain radiate up to her before she even took her seat. As she sat, she made sure to do so gracefully and kept a smile the entire time. On the inside, she was miserable. The spears made her frightened to put her head back. The furs seemed worn and slightly scratchy. Who sits this straight?! Clarke thought. But no matter what, she couldn't let Lexa win. So she settled in as best she could and allowed the formalities to start.


Every harvest began with the clans reviewing the goals they had set for themselves in previous years. They would then compare that to what they had accomplished and where they were now. The growth would be praised by all clans later in the week and any surplus of goods or services was shared. It was the longest part of harvest.

Unluckily, for our two leaders, it was the most boring.

Both Lexa and Clarke loved their people and were happy to share in the prosperity with them all. But the countless descriptions of every little good thing that happened to twelve clans could take it's toll. Clarke new she'd need attending later in the night. Her back had never been stiff for this long and she usually didn't remain in her seat while speaking with her people, but she also didn't want to throw off any normal harvest behavior so she continued to suck it up. Lexa remained unbothered it seemed and she had to beat that.

Lexa, on the other hand, was ready to fall asleep. She had been up half the night, fretting over Clarke's visit as well as all the preparations and now she was sorely regretting it. To her surprise Clarke had remained fairly quiet throughout their dealings, she actually seemed to be enjoying herself, and Lexa couldn't let the other girl show her up. Honestly, though, she was already close to a melt down and if she heard the word 'plentiful' one more time-

"Thank you, Ambassadors. You are all dismissed." The two girls seemed to perk up at hearing the worst part was over and they anxiously watched the leaders walk out of the room, bodies begging for a stretch.

Once the doors closed, they both let out sighs of relief, then upon hearing each other, shared a quick glance. Titus walked over and almost began speaking, but Lexa quickly cut him off with a wave.

"Titus, just... just give us a minute." The man looked disgruntled, but obeyed the order and cleared the gaurds out, as well as himself.

Clarke tried not to blast out of her chair, but she did slowly stand and take a few steps around. While her back was turned Lexa snuck in a quick stretch, shaking her legs and rolling her neck. She quickly composed herself again as Clarke turned around and started to speak.

"So, do you do this all the time?"

Lexa's brows furrowed. "Do what all the time?"

"Oh you know, sit here. Bark things." Clarke said it offhandedly, but she already knew it would get a response. Lexa scooted forward in her chair.

"Excuse me?" Her hands gripped the arm rests dangerously, but Clarke kept going.

"I just mean, you seem used to this... routine of things." Clarke finally turned around to meet Lexa's glare and she could hardly keep from laughing. Yes, she was purposefully picking fun, but she had been bored out of her mind. She needed a little verbal sparring to wake herself up.

"Oh, that's something coming from you." Lexa finally rose and stepped towards the Kwen. "I actually figured you'd be the most comfortable with this, considering that's all you do."

"Oh, you have no idea what I do!" Clarke didn't back down.

"Of course I do! Considering I have to clean up all the messes you make!"

"Messes? What messes?"

Lexa laughs, though it isn't mean happily. "Like antagonizing Trishanakru, by hosting Garu and his people, while they were in the middle of a territory battle!"

Clarke shares the same noncomical laugh. "Antagonize?! I was doing your job! Allowing Garu and his people to occupy MonTaurus instead of causing a war and invading on Trishana lands!"

"I DO- wait.." Lexa paused in the middle of her retort to comprehend what she had just heard. "How did you know of the land disputes?"

Clarke's face went from one of anger to one of confusion. "Garu came to me a while ago for assistance in expanding Delphi boundaries." She took a breath, calming herself and then looked to Lexa. "How did you hear of it?"

Lexa wanted to slap herself in the face. "Egard came to me also, but for warriors, to safe guard his land from Delphi."

Clarke, unlike Lexa, acted on her thoughts and brought her hand to her face. "They pitted us against each other." Clarke chuckled, but then had another thought. "A few moons ago, when I signed that peace treaty between Broadleaf and Podakru, you didn't happen to receive a visit from-"

"Ica? Yeah." Lexa finished for her. "And my decree to allow Trikru to open fish in Boat Clan waters? I'm guessing you were visited-"

"By Luna, yeah." Clarke chuckled again and this time, Lexa laughed with her. Clarke was shocked at the sound, but found herself enjoying it.

Lexa stopped laughing, but kept a soft smile. "We've been played for fools, haven't we."

Clarke nods. "It's our own faults though. This wouldn't happen if we communicated better." They shared a look at that and for some reason it sent butterflies through Clarke's stomach.

Lexa felt the tingling in her chest again and cleared her throat. "I must say though, that treaty was quite fair. You are good with words."

"Oh, that was nothing. The real power is in ruling with no words. I'd love to be able to flick my hand and make people quiet."

Lexa smirks slightly. "It does come in handy. Our kru are quite talkative."

"Aren't they? Seriously, you must teach me." They've been talking so loosely, Clarke doesn't even realize how close they've gotten."

"Oh, it's all in the wrist." That is until Lexa reaches out and grabs her hand, intent on showing her, but once their hands touch, everything else feels less significant.

Clarke's eyes never leave their hands as they still in mid air, until she looks to meet Lexa's eyes, that are already on her. The tingling in Lexa's chest moves to her hand as Clarke's fingers move against hers. Meanwhile, Clarke attempts to halt her body from it's treacherous movement, leaning in without her permission. Lexa just stands stock still, waiting for something to happen. And something does happen.

"You cannot enter without the Commander's permission!" The two leaders fly apart upon hearing Titus' voice so close to the door. Lexa attempts to regain her composure as Clarke simply looks anywhere then at the other girl.

The doors open and in walks Raven, followed by an angry Titus. "I go where my Kwen goes." Raven halts a few steps away from them and Clarke hopes she doesn't notice anything out the ordinary. "Your guests are well settled ai Kwen, and your room is ready," Clarke's hopes are dashed as she sees the hint of an amusing smile on her guards face. "whenever you are ready."

"Thank you, Raven! That will be all." Clarke attempts to glare at her friend as she turns to Lexa. "I should go get settled." Lexa just nods and Clarke tries not to make it awkward. "Thank you for the chair." Again, Lexa nods and then Clarke nods. And then they both nod. Raven almost snorts.

Clarke turns swiftly and leaves, followed by Raven and Lexa watches her as she disappears. Once she is gone, Titus turns to her and she can feel the lecture already, but she has way too much going on in her head already. So she decides to use her gift.

"Not a word, Titus." Her hand flicks and as she brings it down, her lips attempt to upturn as her hand tingles again, as if Clarke's was still pressed against it.


"I'm beginning to think I should've left you back in MonTaurus." Clarke brushes through her hair as Raven chuckles from her bed.

"It's a simple question, Clarke." She stands and walks over behind her friend. "Why is it that every time you try to give Heda "a peice of your mind" you end up doing the exact opposite."

Clarke groans. "I don't know, okay? It always starts off that way and then-"

"And then you end up planning your unification ceremony?" She barely misses the brushes aimed at her, yet she simply laughs.

"You have now been demoted from favorite guard to second favorite guard. Send Esan to me and get out."

Raven scoffs and walks out of the room, making a face at her Kwen as she goes. She makes a few doors down before she is pulled into one of them. Her defenses shoot up before she realizes who it is. "You scared me."

Anya smirks while pulling the girl in. "That was the plan."

Raven glances around. "Is this your room?"

"Sha," they kiss "and yours, temporarily, while our leaders play enemies."

"You noticed it too?" Raven chuckles.

"How could you not?"

"Right?" They both laugh and Raven grips her lover tighter. "Clarke tried to throw a brush at me."

"Lexa has been striding around the throne room since you two left. I think she's practicing her composure."

"They're idiots."

"Completely."


Mmk, so just some clarification for anyone that didn't get it. My reasoning behind this was linked sort of to season 3. Ontari is evil (i know she was raised that way) and she still wins commander because she kills everyone else. Since we know that the chip is nothing more than an AI, there is no commander's spirit to weed out the bad apples and a commander can rise to power just by being strong. In this timeline, that would be Enga, who rose to power on strength and ability alone and then caused strife and eventual war within the clans. Karu gives his life to stop her and then Ella puts in place things to make sure this never happens again. Also, if you pay attention to the description of where Karu dies, it can be assumed that his old palace is now MonTaurus, which is why Clarke is there and not in Polis. And then the rest you can figure from the story. I happen to like this idea, but if you don't, that's ok. Feel free to help yourselves to the other stories on the site :)