vii.

part seven
:-:-: theme; maps by maroon 5 :-:-:

Jeb was helping her, though it wasn't something Octavia noticed at first.

His kind words and fatherly affection was helping her cope. The man would visit her every day; he'd sit with her in her cell and they would talk— or do nothing but sit in silence.

Octavia could feel her walls slowly coming down again, despite her best interests. She honestly couldn't help herself. She craved the love and attention he was giving her. She was desperately touch-starved and who knew just having someone hold your hand could make you feel so comforted?

The brunette tried to fight it, but in the end, Octavia couldn't help but allow Jeb back in.

If she didn't have Micah, she needed to have someone. She needed a rock; a purpose, and Jeb was more than happy to be that person by the looks of it.

"There are other children," Jeb told her during one of his visits. The guards that usually accompanied him were outside the cell, and the camera that monitored her couldn't pick up sound, so they were free to talk as they pleased.

"What do you mean?" Octavia had asked, confused. Because, of course there are other children. They're the only things that the whitecoats seemed to experiment on.

"I mean, that when we escape from this place— You won't be alone. There will be other children, too. We'll all be a family."

Octavia remained silent. She didn't want a family without Micah, but she still thought about the man's words. She wondered what these other children were like; were they like her? How old were they? What did the whitecoats do to them?

"Can I meet them?"

Jeb smiled, ruffling her hair, "One day. They're still being worked on," He says quietly with a frown. "They're not considered to be 'successful' like you yet."

Octavia can tell by his expression that he doesn't like having to describe them like that, but there isn't a simpler way to explain their situation.

She never did give those other children much thought after that. Especially if they were still being experimented on. They could all be dead by the time the day to leave came, and Octavia wasn't going to get her hopes up for nothing.

Octavia is supposed to fight against the other subjects again, or that's what she assumes when the guards lead her to the familiar training yard that's held outside of the facility. It's large—more like an arena than a small fighting pit.

She usually only comes out here to fight the Erasers; all her other matches are held inside.

So, she wonders if something is up… As there are no Erasers in the arena, waiting to pounce on her as soon as she's thrown in there.

Octavia stands on her self-proclaimed side of the field, looking around cautiously for her opponent. That's when she hears it— the door to the opponent's side finally opens and a figure that's about her height is led into the enclosure. A hood is over their head, hiding their appearance from Octavia's view. There are also shackles around their wrists, as well as a collar (that is similar to Octativa's own) around their neck.

She remains numb, watching the subject warily.

The brunette knows to close her emotions off in moments like these. Octavia is about to break this child, and if she doesn't— the whitecoats will do it for her, as well as punish her for her disobedience. Octavia had to stay in their good graces as their little soldier; it was a hefty price for her eventual freedom.

"Subject Glacies and Subject Ignis," A voice sounds through the speakers around the arena while the guards work on relieving the other subject of their bonds. "We are testing your worth. Show us who the stronger weapon is— Kill or be killed."

There is a click as the announcement ends, and Octavia refocuses on her opponent. She steels herself all over again— It was one thing to beat someone to a pulp, but to kill them? A child? Octavia could never get used to it. Even though she always managed to look expressionless on the outside.

Finally, the guards remove themselves from the arena and it's just Octavia and Subject Ignis. They still have the hood on their head, but with trembling hands they reach up to pull it off.

"Fight will begin in 5...4…"

As the hood is thrown over Ignis' shoulder, Octavia falls to her knees.

"...3...2…"

The subject stands before her, tall and so young. He is a young boy with black hair and familiar beautiful brown eyes. He looks like a stranger, standing in front of her— especially with the horrid burn scars that travel from his shoulder to the other side of his wrist on both of his arms. Octavia can see his neck is also entirely covered in tender looking flesh, but somehow, his face remains blemish free.

"M-Micah…?"

"...1… Begin."

Micah didn't even flinch. As soon as he was prompted to, the young boy ran towards Octavia. There wasn't a look of relief or happiness on his face; he was not rushing towards her so that she'd pull him into an embrace.

No, Micah —her baby brother— was running towards her to kill her.

A sob escaped her throat, and even as her brother got closer, she did not move from her spot on the ground.

"M-Micah, little one— What have they done to you—"

"Glacies, stand up. This is an order."

"I thought you were dead," Octavia cries, burying her head into her hands. Micah had almost reached her, and now that she could see him better— She realized that fire was being held in his hands and slowly covering the rest of his arms. It didn't seem to bother him, but Octavia felt sick at the sight of the flames.

"Stand up, Glacies."

"I'm sorry," Octavia said when her brother finally stood in front of her. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you, I—" He just stared down at her, his face without an expression but she could see something in his eyes. It just wanted to make her cry harder, though.

He was looking at her as if she was a stranger. A terrifying stranger.

"This is your final warning—"

Micah swung his arm back, his gaze never leaving hers. Octavia returned his stare, not even flinching when the arm made of fire hit her like a whip and threw her across the arena.

Octavia was screaming, the left side of her neck felt like it was boiling. The burning sensation traveled all the way down to her thigh, practically covering the whole left side of her body.

The fight was not over yet, however, and Micah was already approaching her again.

"I'm not going to fight him," Octavia said, "You can't make me kill my brother!"

He was in front of her again, already raising his arms to deal another blow—

"That's not your brother anymore."

Suddenly, her collar was activated, shocking her violently. The shock, added with the burn on her neck, was a pain she could not withstand. Collapsing on her uninjured side, Octavia fought to keep her eyes open, just to see Micah one more time.

The boy was unconscious on the ground in front of her; it looked like the whitecoats had also shocked him. Blearily, as her world faded to black, she wondered why.