Hey guys here's another chapter. It was great to see the feedback for the last chapter and I'm happy this story is gaining more readers.
I'd love to hear what you're all thinking about the story thus far. Reviews seriously inspire to write faster so if it's not too much of a hassle please just tell me what you thought of the chapter. It'll only motivate me to write quicker :)
With further ado , here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
Song rec: Mad World by Gary Jules
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Clarke walked past the gates to camp and she nodded at Monroe who was on gate duty before she made her way for the dropship.
The upper level of the dropship had become the unofficial meeting point for important matters. In this case, the matter at hand was the book and the meeting tomorrow as well.
Clarke had told the others to round up everyone who had activated or suspected that they had activated powers. Darah's journal probably contained a lot of information and Clarke was planning on reading it and summarising it for everyone who was relevant to the contents of the book in other words anyone who had their powers.
It would probably be a tall order to explain and clarify the contents to 6 or 7 people let alone a 100 so at the moment it was at a need to know basis. Also, it would stand to reason that those who got told now would also tell other people eventually which to Clarke's admittedly painful body sounded like a much better idea than trying to rationalise everything to nearly 100 people at once
Clarke finally reached the dropship and she walked up the ramp and she heard an argument once she had reached the ladder.
"We can all get powers, right?"said Mbege indignantly , "So, I think we should all get a chance to sit in on this meeting. It's bullshit that you think having powers makes you more important than the rest of us."
Raven sighed and said,"Look. Like we told you and everyone else in the camp as much as we would love to sit down and rationalise everything for you, the only person who can understand the contents of that book is Clarke. It's all medical and genetics bull that none of us even get and if Clarke doesn't want to sit down and explain a whole lot of technical crap to everyone in this camp then so be it. You weren't there with us today and believe you me Clarke hasn't had an easy day– none of us have. The rest of us –including Clarke– will help anyone who activates their powers after this meeting. It just makes sense that the ones who actually have powers are here now. So unless you can breathe fire or shit gold please leave."
Clarke heard Octavia explode in laughter and it was then that she decided to intercept before Mbega attacked Raven and probably get himself killed in the process.
As expected, Mbege was standing across from Raven with a murderous look in his eyes. He was so angry that he hadn't even noticed Clarke climb up the ladder or he had simply ignored it.
Clarke sighed wearily and said,"Listen Mbege, like Raven said we're all feeling pretty tired and the last thing any of us need is an argument over this. The people here are here because their powers have activated and with the Grounders circling us we need to know how to defend ourselves because as much as you hate on all of us for being 'special' you know damn well that we are the ones who will have to lead the line in any fight against the Grounders. If you ever activate your powers then I will personally sit you down and explain everything to the nest of my ability. "
The words from Clarke seemed to have nullified Mbege if only slightly and he said,"Alright, I'll leave. Whatever the Princess says goes after all."
He then bumped Clarke's shoulder as he walked past and climbed down the ladder. Clarke rolled her eyes and she sat down opposite the other occupants in the room.
Clarke pulled out the book once she had gotten comfortable and she looked up to see everyone in the room looking at her with a blend of worry and sympathy in their eyes.
It really did mean a lot to Clarke that everyone in the room – even Miller, Harper and Jasper who she hadn't had much contact with – seemed worried about her, but Clarke knew that there wasn't any time for weakness and she decided to put their worries to rest.
"Look guys,"said Clarke as she looked at them," I know what you're thinking and yes Roma and I were more than friends and I am very upset at her death, but I promise I'm handling it."
Clarke paused for a bit to allow her words to settle in and she toyed with her ring for a bit before saying,"I'm still angry at Diana for everything, but trust me when I say she got what she deserved in the end. "
Octavia looked somewhat hesitant as she said,"Did you kill her? Not that I'm judging or think she doesn't deserve it, but–"
"No, Octavia "said Clarke reassuringly to show that no offense was taken,"I didn't kill her. I wanted to, but I think it's better if she lives with the knowledge that everything she had done was all for nothing. Death would have been a mercy she did not deserve."
There was silence after Clarke had spoken and just as it was growing uncomfortable Jasper spoke up and said,"Is that a ring? Where the hell did you get that? I'll trade you like...30 guard shifts for that. I haven't even seen a rusted spoon let alone something like that."
Clarke smiled a little at the words of Jasper before she said,"Well, I'll tell you about it later. Sooner than you think. Anyways, I've already gone over a lot of this and there's a lot to go through so I hope you're comfortable. "
After no one had said anything, Clarke opened the book and said,"Okay, I think first of all what I have to say is that Darah was brilliant. She innovated genetic engineering on Earth and she was a pure genius. She had multiple PhDs in biology, genetics, engineering and zoology. She was really, really smart. "
Raven snorted and said,"Yeah, no shit. I mean I doubt any old dumbass could make something that makes someone be able to shoot beams from their hands or move things with their mind. She was probably the most successful human being ever."
Clarke rolled her eyes and said," Yeah, but strangely enough she wasn't the only super prodigy around. In fact, there's a lot of mention of someone called Becca who was some sort of rival or something, but she barely mentions her at all. The most important thing about this Becca was that she studied pretty much the same stuff as Darah, but Becca was apparently even more successful than Darah was. It turns out that Becca was revolutionary when it came to artificial intelligence and that led to her becoming the richest person alive."
"So you're telling me that there was someone smarter than the person who found a way to give us powers and they were both alive at the same time?" said Monty dubiously.
It was a tough pill to swallow.
"Yeah and Darah didn't like being overshadowed by Becca so that was what ultimately led to her experiments with the American government. You see there had been a lot of people who thought of genetic engineering as immoral and as such Darah didn't have the best of reputations however Becca was praised by virtually everyone thanks to her work in artificial intelligence. In fact, it's some of Becca's early AIs that run a lot of the Ark's processes."
"So basically Becca was this angel while Darah was seen as a monster ?" said Bellamy in question to Clarke who nodded and then Bellamy added,"What experiments?"
"Okay, this is where it becomes less of a biography and we get more in depth on the nanobots. So you see Darah had basically the lead scientist in a project called Project Ascendance. There had apparently been some sort of leak about every army's warfare capabilities and despite a worldwide peace treaty/disarmament being signed the president at the time decided that instead of honouring their treaty they decided to beef up their soldiers which is where Darah came in."
"So, the first nanobots were used on the military of the US? "said Miller as he spoke up for the first time.
Clarke was glad for the question as it was a key part of the story, "Yes, the very first ever nanobots were given to the soldiers, but these were a lot simpler than the ones that were used during the Blight and on us. Darah hadn't quite gotten everything down and it took 449 failures before the first success. Everyone before #450, as Darah called him, died horrific deaths as the serum wasn't perfected and had an extremely high mortality rate."
"449?" said Octavia disgustedly and no one could blame her.
The idea that there was a government willing to allow over 400 of its soldiers to die and there was someone willing to experiment on other human beings really rattled them. It was made worse considering the fact that there was supposed to be peace for the foreseeable future at that time.
"Yes, but she had eventually figured out a way to make even extreme changes to a human's genetic and physical makeup without overwhelming the recipient of this serum. Also, this serum did not actually give the recipient any powers as we think of them, but instead gave them an extreme physical boost. This guy's strength, speed and reflexes were all ridiculous. "
Clarke paused to allow everything to settle in and also see if anyone had questions. It was Harper who spoke up and she remembered Monty saying something about Harper's powers activating on a hunt or something, but she couldn't quite remember what they were exactly.
"Did the military actually use that version of the serum or not once it began to work?"said Harper and it was a question which drew the nods from the others and Clarke suspected she knew what they were thinking.
"No, you see after the first success. A whistleblower had blown the whole thing sky high and somehow before an international court Darah had been acquitted of all charges. The USA, however, had been forced into paying massive reparations to the other countries for violating the treaty and also paid compensation to everyone, including #450, for damages caused,"said Clarke.
"This disgrace was apparently the final straw for Darah and she eventually decided that she was tired of Earth and eventually she became only the second person to have a private space station orbiting the Earth. "
"Second?"said Jasper in confusion.
"Yes, second. Becca beat her to that, but we'll get to that,"said Clarke,"Anyways, Alpha Station on the Ark was actually Darah's private station and it was there where she began working on the earliest version of the nanobots as we know them. So there are quite a few differences between the nanobots and I'll do my best to explain them. You see Darah had continued Project Ascendance on Alpha Station, but she felt bitter about being exposed and villified by virtually everyone so she had decided that she was actually going to sell the completed version of the nanobots to various terrorists organisations and/or governments except this time excluding the United States. "
"So you're telling me her sole motivation for making those things was just to give them to terrorists in the hope that they would take it out on the people who had scorned her? That's one way to get revenge, I guess," quipped Raven in a casual tone that did not at all suit the weight of what she was talking about.
"Yes, but ironically after she had made the Duos version in bulk she had been betrayed by one of her scientists who had actually been working for the government. He had stolen hundreds of vials of the Duos serum for the American government, but he had slipped up in the process and we should be grateful that he had because Darah had managed to convince him to videotape himself saying he worked for the government and the only reason she hadn't been shot out the sky was because she threatened to reveal everything to the rest of the world. If she hadn't gotten that on tape then it was likely that after the Nuclear War that all the astronauts at time might have died since forming the Ark was necessary for everyone to survive and Alpha Station had the most resources by a long way. "
"If all the stations united then why haven't we heard anything about Becca?"said Monty in confusion, "If she's as smart as you're making her out to be surely there would have been records on her or something. Hell, she might have even been Chancellor instead of Darah."
"Do any of you remember the Unity Day story?"said Clarke and she was surprised to hear Octavia pipe up.
"Yeah, I do. Bell used to tell me it whenever I was young," said Octavia and Clarke was glad to see that Octavia didn't appear to be especially angry at Bellamy despite his screw up with the radio. Clarke knew he was probably killing himself over the Culling enough as it was and even Raven didn't have the sneer she had usually had plastered on her face whenever Bellamy's name was mentioned.
"It goes something like this,"said Octavia as she tried to recall the story from her youth,"Long ago, when the Earth was on fire, 12 stations floated through space, all alone. Then one day, Mir floated by Shenzhen, and they realized life would be better together. The other stations saw this, and they wanted to be together too. When all the other stations were joined they called themselves the Ark."
"That's the romantic version we preach about, but remember there weren't just 12 stations,"said Clarke as she waited for the penny to drop.
She saw Bellamy and Raven's faces light up in realisation and she decided to just go for it,"There were thirteen stations remember. We thought the 13th station had been a casualty of the war, but what had actually happened was that the 13th station had decided to not dock with the rest of the Ark and so the Chancellor at the time despite heavy protests from everyone gave the order for Alpha Station to shoot Polaris out of the sky."
Silence.
"Okay,"said Raven ,"So she shot Polaris out the sky and ended up killing the only other rival to her seat and scared the hell out of everyone else on the stations. It's no wonder she stayed Chancellor for so long. Those poor nerds and astronauts were probably beyond scared of her."
Clarke nodded and said,"Essentially, yes. Once the Ark had formed she still continued improving and working on the nanobots including mine which she called Novus. She made more improvements on all three series once the Ark had formed like increasing the success rate and allowing it to be passed down genetically."
"Okay, Princess,"said Finn suddenly,"Enough of the history lesson. What about these nanobots? What are the differences between them? That's why we're right?"
Clarke resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the obnoxious tone in his voice and unsurprisingly Raven's hands were actually twitching once she had heard Finn speak up.
It wasn't the time for an argument so Clarke spoke up before she would have to end up healing someone,"I was getting to that. Anyways, now that you know what kind of a twisted and genius Darah is it should help you understand who would make such a thing. What they do though is extremely interesting."
"You see, Darah had suspicions that the Earth was still inhabited by other people. There hadn't been any successful radio attempts according to her notes, but the reason she had essentially poisoned everyone with the Primus and Duos was to arm the citizens of the Ark. Darah may have been spied on by the US military, but she too had her own spies and she had found out about something called Project Everyman. Essentially, the US had used the stolen Duos versions of the nanobots and also made them able to be passed down genetically and also had poisoned a large portion of the population with them. This was apparently the last line of defence that the United States had and there was supposed to be a way to control those with the nanobots as well, but that was never developed because of the war. "
"So you're saying the government had planned to use their entire population as a form of last resort army?"said Miller, "That's twisted."
"Yeah, well now we at least know how the Grounders got their powers,"said Bellamy as he cradled his forearm that had been broken against the first Grounder he had fought.
"It all leads back to Darah basically, "said Harper,"But could we get an explanation on what the powers are meant to do or something?"
"Okay, I was getting to that,"said Clarke before adding, "Darah had basically forced everyone aboard the Ark when she was in charge to at one point or another to consume the Primus or Duos serums. The thing is though was that if one had taken the serum then not only was it likely that they would activate powers, but if one either had a child or ate the flesh of someone with powers then that would also essentially ensure one had the capacity to obtain their powers. She had used more Primis serums which were brown in colour than she had Duos which we all know are silver because she was basically thinking of things in terms of a food cycle of sorts."
"Food cycle?"said Jasper in confusion and he wasn't the only one that looked confused.
"That's the closest thing I could compare it to. You see the serums were actually never meant to be taken in the same generation. The Primus serums were made to do the initial genetic alterations and hardening and they also never gave the physical boost that some of us got. The Duos serum was meant to both gift the user with a Duos level power whilst also giving immense physical enhancements. The Primus series had a tendency to generate powers that while useful were not actually suited for combat."
"Like invisibility or plant creation, "said Monty.
"Yes, but since our earlier ancestors had all come into contact with Primus and Duos series the tertiary function of the Duos was revealed. You see the Primus serum despite everything could never gift multiple powers so the idea was to allow the Primus alterations to be passed down before one would take the Duos series. This was because the Duos was a heavy strain on the body. The part where it gets interesting though is how the numbers of powers one activates is chosen. The strain of having multiple powers was a concern to Darah so she had coded the nanobots to gauge not only how much strain a body could handle, but also there is apparently some sort of X-factor within the body that in Darah's words separates the wheat from the chaff. Basically, the amount of powers you can develop depends on your body's ability to handle the strain as well as how much more exceptional you are."
"So you're telling me that these things can somehow measure our potential or something?"said Raven and it was a fair question.
"I think that was the effect that Darah was going for. I don't know whether the method used is infallible or not however and it's not really mentioned, but that's beside the point. The thing I find interesting is that the nanobots tend to give you a power that is suited to your personality. It doesn't always happen, but it is a pretty common occurrence apparently more so with the Duos. Finally, the last part on the Primus and Duos is on their weaknesses and limitations. In general, the Primus abilities tend to be not directly linked to combat. Darah had focused more on the genetic hardening aspect and essentially laying the foundation for the Duos serum so while not all Primus abilities were not meant for battle, most if not all abilities that are not meant for battle are in fact Primus abilities which is important since apparently physical trauma is what causes one to lose control of their Primus abilities, but it doesn't quite give clear examples on that. "
Octavia had been silent and processing the volumes of information before she suddenly said,"Oh! I think I know what you're talking about. When those bastards abducted me, I got blown through a whole lot of trees and even though my armour was up I couldn't even move and the last thing I remember is my invisibility flickering on and off without me trying to do anything. "
"Thanks, O. The next one is pretty important since pretty much everyone here has at least one Duos ability activated. The weakness of the Duos had to do not with the body, but more with the mind. The explanation states that when one hasn't mastered their Duos power and they experience extreme emotional highs then their powers would tend to run wild. Like..."
Here Clarke paused awkwardly as she realised just who was in the room and she stared at Raven who seemed to have reached the same realisation as her,"Like how I changed the weather from rainy to sunny when I landed and saw Finn."
To Clarke's slight surprise, she saw a downcast look appear on Finn's face at Raven's words, but apparently Raven wasn't done as she added in a voice that was deceptively void of emotions, "Or how I started a mini-hurricane in the woods when I found out Finn was cheating on me."
Instantly, the atnosphere in the room became awkward. In Clarke's eyes, it felt more mortifying than the time her parents had caught her making out with a girl in her room a few years back and this time Clarke wasn't even directly linked to the situation.
"Uhm, yeah. So anyone with Duos powers has to practice with their powers or you could end up hurting others or yourself. There also appears to be a general guide to measure the general limits and versatility of powers. There seems to be three tiers of how one controls their power and in general the higher your tier, the more you can do. If a power is localised around one set of organs, aside from the hands, then that is the lowest level like Jasper's heat vision or , uhm, Roma's scream. The middle tier is powers that are controlled by your hands specifically and these powers tend to have more use and firepower. This would be like Raven's laser beams or Bellamy's telekinesis. The highest level is anything that is controlled by your mind or some sort of mental trigger and these while not necessarily have the most power they are the most versatile. This is the tier that also allows one to directly affect other people or objects. This is like Finn's intangibility or Octavia's armour and invisibility. In all probability, Octavia could learn how to hide things with her invisibility or crystallise things like how Finn has already done."
Octavia looked pretty upbeat at the information and Clarke was sure Octavia probably had all sorts of ideas swirling in her head. The others were also pondering on the information they had learned and suddenly a bout of nervousness overcame Clarke as she realised she would have to tell them about what she had learned about the Novus serum.
The things she had learned about the serum had honestly amazed and terrified Clarke at the power she literally had available to her. The Novus was a whole new level of genius and insanity and while she was sure the others had some idea of what the Novus serum enabled her to do there was actually a lot more than Clarke had been expecting.
Clarke had been so focused on the Novis series that she hadn't realised everyone was waiting expectantly before Jasper coughed loudly and obnoxiously to get her attention.
Clarke jilted at the noise and when she finally snapped out of her daze she found the others all staring at her,"Right, sorry I drifted off. Anyways, I think it's time I tell you about the Novus serum. In Darah's notes, she never mentioned having ever taken a Primus or Duos serum and the reason for that was because this was the one she intended to take for herself, but she died before taking it."
Everyone was looking at her with focused eyes and Clarke began to toy with the ring on her finger. The motion settled her nerves and Clarke decided to just bite the bullet and get it over and done with.
"You see Darah had worked on all three strains simultaneously however Darah knew that she would probably become a massive target and she needed something to defend herself with and in all likelihood against others with powers. So Novus was at it's base designed as a hard counter to the Primus and Duos whilst also being superior at the same. That's why I'm a lot stronger and faster than everyone else by a long way and I think it was also a middle finger to the people who had stopped Project Ascendance, but it doesn't stop there. "
Clarke cleared her throat and with more confidence then she felt said,"So I'm sure you all remember how Darah had made the best gene editing available? Well, what pretty much everyone didn't know was that she had made even greater strides in that field. You see Novus is vastly different from the other two serums and that's why the serums were likened to a food chain. The Primus are similar to plants in that they aren't capable of much other than what their bodies do to survive. This is also why the body is the weakness of the Primus. It was purposeful by Darah since she knew that if someone to include the weaknesses ever betrayed her then she would have a way to subdue them. The Duos, on the other hand, would be the herbivores in that with their more combat inclined powers and increased physical capabilities they would be able to counter and subdue anyone with a Primus power. Therefore, following the food cycle method, Duos were essentially the herbivores and carnivores of the food cycle depending on how strong the individual was. The mind or emotions affecting the Duos powers wasn't intentional by Darah and so she decided to opt for a more sure fire way of being able to beat Duos powers and so she put all of what she had learnt in her life to the stress to make Novus which is the animal at the top of the food chain. The nanobots in the first two serums only ever ran once and made the changes before shutting down. "
"The Novus nanobots, on the other hand, don't ever stop running. Darah believed that versatility and adaptability were the bare bones of surviving anything and so Novus was initially made to account for any situation. Unfortunately, the computing power to process every single possible power that could appear and then manifest something to counter it was astronomical and only achievable in far too long a period of time. So, Darah decided that instead of being able to counter every power she would face, she would rather be able to steal powers instead."
The silence in the room was deafening and it was finally broken by Raven's shocked voice,"You can steal powers?"
The others – except for Bellamy and Octavia – looked just as surprised at these turn of events and Clarke nodded and said,"Yes, amongst other things. I can sense how many powers you have active or dormant and I can also activate them."
This time even Bellamy and Octavia were surprised and it was the latter that spoke up,"That's what you were doing to Diana when I found you. She was crying out in pain and you were just hovering over her and you were smiling Clarke. You didn't even hear me call your name like five times."
Clarke sighed at the wary and surprised looks everyone was giving her and she cursed Octavia's inability to keep quiet. It was extremely concerning to find out that Octavia had been right there and Clarke hadn't even noticed, but that was beside the point.
"I was pretty angry at the time. She's the reason Roma and who knows how many other people on the Ark are dead. So if any of you think I'm a monster who's about to attack you or something you can calm down. I'm still me,"said Clarke with equal parts incredulity and anger," If I wanted to steal any of your powers or something I would have by now. You guys trust me right?"
The tension in the room was thick and despite herself Clarke felt more than just a little hurt when no one spoke for a few moments, but it was Raven who broke the silence that was beginning to descend on the room.
"Clarke,"said Raven with more trepidation than Clarke had ever heard in the girl's voice,"Your hand."
It was then and only then that Clarke realised her hand was pointing at the others with blue energy rolling off her palm. Clarke lowered her hand shakily until it was at her side again.
The tears came without warning and they were suddenly pouring out of Clarke's eyes. Clarke looked at her hands and they were trembling.
All she could see was the beam shooting straight through Roma's heart. The scream Roma had let out was echoing through her ears like a haunting and constant melody. The signs of life slowly fading from Roma's were stuck on an endless loop within Clarke's mind.
The haunting scenes fled from her mind when she felt something warm embrace her. Clarke opened her eyes and she was surprised to find that the mechanic had pulled her into an embrace.
It had been perhaps only seconds since Clarke had lowered her arm and yet it had felt like a lifetime.
"Clarke, we all trust you,"said Raven soothingly as she pulled the younger girl closer to her,"We're just worried about you. You're trying to close yourself off and act like everything's fine, but it's not. Roma died not even a few hours ago. You buried her one hour ago. No one here will judge you or anything if you need time to mourn. She was your friend Clarke and so are we. We're all here for you no matter what you need."
Clarke felt her heart clench at the words Raven said and she took a deep breath and stepping back from the hug and said," Thanks, Raven, but I'm fine. Trust me. I trust all of you and despite the short time we've been on the ground. I do trust all of you. It gets hard, sometimes, to know that I have all this strength available. I can punch people through trees and shoot fire from my hands and heal broken bones with a touch, but even then Roma died under my watch and it's my fault."
Raven was about to speak, but Clarke raised her hand to stop her,"It was my fault. I didn't even bother to think there were other Guards at the Exodus ship or that Diana might aim for someone other than me. I was arrogant and stupid and naive. "
Clarke was now taking her time to look at everyone in the room in the eyes as she said," There's a good chance that everyone on the Ark is dead. Tomorrow we're going meeting with the Grounders to negotiate peace and if we don't come to an agreement we're surrounded by who knows how many superpowered Grounders that were born and bred for combat since they were kids. Let's not forget that all we have to fight against them are us and a bunch of teenagers who have never shot a rifle in their lives. I was given that gold serum for a reason and I'll be damned if anyone – Grounder or not – thinks that I'll just roll over without a fight. "
Clarke paused for a second to compose herself and she said,"Starting from tomorrow everyone is learning how to shoot rifles. There needs to be mandatory guard and hunting duty for everyone. If people have a problem with that then they can leave. This isn't the Ark. We need to change and adapt and evolve or else we'll waste away and die. We're meeting with the Grounders tomorrow at a nearby bridge. No weapons. Lincoln will come and guide us to it. Tell everyone who's on guard duty to not attack him. Bellamy and Octavia will come with me and I'll need the rest of you to keep control of camp. If anyone slacks off, they're exiled. If anyone tries to fight, they're exiled. We'll give whoever wants to leave a gun and rations and they can go wherever they want. The last thing we need is to be fighting amongst ourselves. "
It was as if a switch had been flipped and Clarke had gone from a genetics geek to a leader in an instant. The others began to file out leaving Clarke alone.
The notes had gone into detail about how the powers usually activated when the user was in danger such as when Roma had almost been killed the first time around by Grounders or it happened spontaneously.
Clarke couldn't in her right mind throw teens into conflict with aninals or sit around waiting for their powers to activate, but she didn't have much of a choice.
Activating Diana's dormant power, which was essentially the ability to convert matter from one substance to another, had actually been taxing not just on Diana, but on Clarke.
It had taken all of her willpower to not collapse from the sheer pain and exhaustion she had felt at the time. The in-depth analysis that the Novus gave Clarke – Insight for lack of a better term– into Diana's body had shown extreme levels of stress being exerted onto Diana's body and in fact, Diana had been lucky to not have her body torn apart from the stress.
It was why Clarke wouldn't dare to try it on anyone of the 100 at least until she got better at it, but that was a long way off.
It would probably be a good idea, though, if Clarke could use Insight to see who and how many powers everyone could activate. Those who weren't able to manifest any powers at all would be kept inside the camp where they'd be safest.
It would ruffle some feathers, but like a part of Darah's journal had said. Humans can't be trusted to know what's best for them.
If there was a part of Darah's way of life that Clarke agreed with then that was it.
"You probably get a kick out of that, don't you?" said Clarke to the empty room.
There was no response and Clarke sighed before she blew out every candle in the room. She shut the hatch and climbed down the ladder.
Clarke eventually reached her tent and she decided to forgo dinner and just get ready for what could shape up to be a long day.
She pulled her ring off and she placed it underneath her pillow where she also kept her father's watch.
Clarke hadn't worn the watch since she had killed the first Grounder. It somehow seemed wrong to wear the watch while she killed other people and maybe if they got peace with the Grounders then she would be able to put it on again.
The other, less depressing reason Clarke didn't wear the watch was because of the little experiment she had been working on whenever she had had the time.
Clarke took off the long sleeve jacket she was wearing and folded it before finally sitting down on a chair salvaged from the dropship.
She ran her fingers over the small depression in the metal of the chair as she remembered the first time she had activated her powers.
To Clarke's slight shame, she hadn't quite told everyone everything the Novus enabled her to. She was probably doing a disservice to Raven, Bellamy, Monty and Octavia, but although she didn't quite have anything against Miller, Jasper and Harper it was Finn that worried her.
She was quite aware of the looks of disdain and disgust the boy sent her way as well as Raven, Bellamy and Octavia. It irked Clarke as she suspected the reason he was doing his best to kill them with glares and sneers was due to the fact that the four of them had at one stage or another killed.
It irritated Clarke that Finn only saw them as monsters and truthfully it was quite pathetic as well. For all his heroism and bravado, Finn wasn't quite able to walk the talk. He had ran away in their second encounter with the Grounders and when they were looking for Octavia he had frozen in shock during a battle.
He would have probably gotten himself killed if Bellamy hadn't been there after Clarke had been blown away by one of the Grounders.
It was also why he wasn't coming along since tomorrow because if things got hairy then Finn would be dead weight in a fight.
Clarke shook her head and instead lifted her left hand up to eye level. The Novus was said to offer greater flexibility in the abilities that were given to the user. Any power she stole could only be used just above it's usual constraints however the powers Novus bestowed.
The prime example was evident as a flower made of ice appeared in midair before disintegrating into steam moments later. Diana had only been able to make basic shapes using ice from what Clarke had seen using Insight and the ice flower that Clarke had made would have been out of Diana's immediate reach if she had her powers.
On the other hand, the powers that the Novus gave her such as the elements control could be taken to the extreme.
Case in point, Clarke held up her hand it ignited into fire, but Clarke knew it wasn't that simple. It was like her fire had become fire itself like Octavia or Miller's respective armours. Clarke didn't exactly use this since the last thing she wanted was for her clothes to get burnt and then she'd end up being naked wherever she had decided to turn herself into fire.
So, basically a bad idea.
There was a voice inside Clarke that said she could transform her clothes into a material that worked seamlessly with her powers in matter the situation, but Clarke ignored that voice.
Clarke yawned suddenly and feeling the pains and aches of the day washing over her Clarke ìn what was unfortunately becoming more and more necessary by the night she reached into her makeshift sac and she ate the cherry her fingers had latched onto.
It was only moments after eating the cherry that Clarke felt the arms of sleep envelop her and she fell asleep soundly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Are you sure this is still a good idea?"said Bellamy as he stood at the the top of the dropship's ramp alongside Clarke.
Clarke nodded and said, "We need to know who can manifest powers and who can't. The best way to activate powers is either through an emotional high or in a life or death situation otherwise it's sporadic like with Miller, Jasper and Monty and no one else has shown any signs of activating powers beside Harper and that was because she had been attacked by a river snake."
Bellamy sighed and said,"I still don't think it's such a good idea to do this all publicly. I'm sure some people won't take too kindly to finding out that they can't activate any powers like the rest of us. Anyways, I'll be at the back of the line."
The majority of what had been discussed yesterday had been shared with the rest of the camp with the exception of most of what Clarke's abilities entailed except for obviously being able to gauge how many powers an individual had.
The reaction to the thought that Clarke could literally steal everyone's powers would probably not go down so well especially with people that were not partial to Clarke.
"Okay, guys form a line. I'll put my hand on your head and the number I tell is how many powers you can get. If you have any active powers, I'll be able to tell you what they are and how many you have active, but if they are not active then I can only tell you how many, if any, powers you may have."
The anticipation in the air was palpable and Clarke almost winced as she heard everyone begin to talk about what they wished they had or what they thought they had. It was rather upsetting to know that Clarke was going to be the one to burst quite a few bubbles today.
The chatter continued even as the first delinquent began to walk up the ramp. Clarke smiled at Monroe before she placed her hand atop the girl's head.
There was a sudden lull in the camp as Clarke closed her eyes and focused. It was maybe ten seconds later that Clarke opened her eyes and said,"You have no active powers."
The smile on Monroe's face dropped, but it returned as Clarke said,"However, you have two dormant powers. You'll need to join the hunting parties and begin combat training with Miller when I leave that should hopefully nudge you closer to activating your powers."
The others had also agreed it was extremely unsafe for Clarke to try and forcibly activate their powers especially since it had had a detrimental effect on Diana and the risk wasn't worth it.
The crowd seemed excited and the chatter began to rise. Clarke rolled her eyes as she saw Mbege was the next one to step up. He walked with swagger and practically strutted up to Clarke.
He looked at her with a condescending smile and said,"I guess you won't be leader much longer when everyone here finds out how much stronger I am than you, Princess"
Clarke sighed through her nose and without another word placed her hand atop Mbege's head. It was mere seconds later that Clarke removed her hand and with a neutral, almost robotic tone that was in sharp contrast with how Clarke felt on the inside she spoke up.
"Zero. Dormant or active powers,"
The smile that Mbege was wearing washed away slowly before his face settled into an angry and annoyed expression,"You're fucking lying."
The furious expression Mbege wore only increased as the delinquents behind him jeered and laughed at his misfortune. It was probably made worse by Raven, who was taking notes at the foot of the ramp, literally snorting before letting out loud peals of laughter.
Clarke shook her head at the sight of Raven and said,"I promise you. There was nothing when I checked. I wouldn't lie about this."
Mbege still looked unconvinced and Clarke sighed and said, "Do you want me to scan again?"
A vehement nod was her answer and again Clarke activated Insight, but there was no change at all. Mbege's body had rejected the nanobots and as such he hadn't been bestowed any power at all.
"Still nothing,"said Clarke as she pulled away from Mbege.
Mbege left with a huff and he shoved hi way through the crowd. The atmosphere was decidedly more subdued than before as people realised that they might actually not have any powers and Clarke simply prepared herself for the worst.
It took roughly another 30 minutes before Clarke was finished with everyone and the results were abysmal to say the least.
Of the 95 people in the camp , a resounding 77 had no powers at all. Clarke had double and even triple checked a lot of the delinquents, but it appeared that the genetic editing done after the Blight had actually been more damaging than expected.
It was time for Clarke to go through those that had actually exhibited powers and the majority of the delinquents hung around just to see if the whole thing had been false or not.
Clarke had spoken to everyone beforehand and said that they should give everyone solid proof that she wasn't lying to the delinquents.
It would also probably lift the morale of everyone that there were people who had active powers. There were 7 who all had one dormant power. The only person who had multiple dormant powers was Monroe, in fact.
Finn decided to be the first to step up and it was a somewhat comical sight to see Clarke strain somewhat to reach the top of Finn's head.
Clarke used her Insight and she turned to Raven who was still dutifully taking notes,"Finn Collins, two. Intangibility and dormant."
Raven took it down without a fuss although Clarke was sure there were hints of a frown on her face. It probably didn't sit well with Raven that she probably had the same amount of powers as Finn.
Finn turned intangible and proved it by walking away from Clarke and then walking directly through the crowd of delinquents.
Miller stepped up and again the same process repeated itself. Name, surname, powers and then demonstration.
"Nathan Miller, two. Metal armour and dormant."
" Jasper Jordan , two. Heat vision and dormant. "
"Harper MacIntyre, two. Uh, Animal control and dormant."
Monty stepped up and Clarke scanned him and she couldn't fight her smile as Monty danced after she spoke,"Monty Green , 2. Plant/Fruit creation and dormant. "
"Fuck you, Jasper! " shouted Monty as he held his middle fingers aloft,"Who's farmer boy now?"
Jasper looked nonplussed and shouted,"It's still you! You're still the farmer boy, man!"
As if to Monty further, Jasper held up the raw meat he was holding and two quick beams of light later, a perfectly cooked slice of deer was in Jasper's hands.
He took a huge bite and said,"Until you can do this, you still suck."
Clarke smiled broadly at the exchange between the two. She turned to face Bellamy who had strode up the stairs and he looked at Clarke expectantly.
Clarke placed her hand on Bellamy's head and after a few seconds she jerked back and the surprise on her face was clear as day.
"Bellamy Blake, 4. Telekinesis and three dormants."
Raven looked surprised and all but shouted, "What the fuck? This chump has four? I'm sorry Clarke, but I think you need to go in for repairs."
Bellamy smiled at the news and was in a much happier mood than anyone else had seen him in a while. He flicked his wrist and laughed as Raven's notebook flew to his waiting hand. He played around with before giving it back to a rather perturbed mechanic.
The rest of the delinquents seemed to enjoy the by play and the mood was already lifting as the antics of the others seemed to melt the disappointment of not having powers aside.
Octavia was next and she practically skipped her way up the ramp and stood in front of Clarke. Clarke put her hand on Octavia's head and after a few seconds let go.
"Octavia Blake, four–"
Clarke was cut off by a squeal from Octavia and Octavia clearly happy about the news hughed Clarke and spun her around in a circle.
Clarke broke free from the hug and said,"Like I was saying. Octavia Blake, four. Invisibility, Crystal armour and control and finally two dormants."
Octavia seemed stoked about having four powers which was a sharp contrast to Bellamy who looked pretty upset that his sister would probably be facing the front lines more than he would like.
Octavia turned her armour on and then turned invisible. She appeared again a second later and she looked at her brother directly before smiling widely.
Finally, it was down to the last person and Raven stood up before walking up to Clarke. When Raven was close to Clarke she said soft enough for only Clarke to hear,"I swear if I don't have the same amount of powers as Finn then the universe hates me."
Clarke smiled slight and she scanned Raven quickly and she said,"Okay, last note for the book. Raven Reyes, four. Weather manipulation, Laser beams and two dormants. "
Raven smiled at Clarke and said ,"Maybe the universe isn't all bad. "
Raven was about to do her demonstration, but she was cut off by Clarke grabbing onto her hands,"I don't think your powers are the best for demonstration. They're pretty destructive. "
Raven sighed and said, "Whatever, Griffin. I was doing what you told me to. It's not my fault my awesomeness is too much to handle. Anyways, I think you're forgetting someone to scan."
Clarke realised who Raven was referring to and said,"I'm not even sure I can use this on myself."
There were others who were listening to their conversation and it was Mbege who shouted,"Hey, Princess. We all want to know how many powers the Ark gave their precious princess."
Clarke ignored the jibe and instead decided to just bow to their whims. Clarke closed her eyes and simply focused her Insight ability inwards.
Clarke was surprised to be able to perceive how the Novus nanobots were running even as she was standing there. To her surprise, however she didn't quite manage to isolate the part of her being that represented her powers out. In fact, although Clarke was somewhat able to perceive the fact that she could activate more powers, she was surprised to find that she wasn't able to activate them at all or even give them a slight nudge like she had done for everyone else.
Clarke had made the executive decision to loosen the knots that were the dormant powers once she had realised just how few of them actually had powers. It wasn't taxing at all on Clarke and probably didn't hurt anyone else she had tried it on.
However, when she tried to loosen the knots she vaguely recognised as her own dormant powers they held firm. Even trying to unlock them fully produced no discernible effect.
The thing that stuck out though was that it felt like there was no limit to how many Clarke could activate. Clarke felt like that wasn't quite the right explanation and despite herself she couldn't quite put words to what she was perceiving.
Clarke was about to turn off Insight, but ine thing drew her attention that shocked and it was–
!*
Instantly, Clarke's eyes snapped open and she caught the rock sailing at her head. She wasn't quite sure where it came from and from the looks of it neither did Raven.
The crowd of delinquents around were silent and Clarke crushed the rock in her hand to pieces.
"Okay, show's over. You guys know the deal. We still need as much of you to get as combat ready as possible just in case. If you have a problem with what we're doing then the gates are right there."
There were various murmurs, but no one spoke and the crowd parted seamlessly to allow Clarke to walk through it.
Raven was following in her wake and Clarke heard a commotion from deeper in the woods. Clarke sped away in a blur and she rushed to the sound only to find Lincoln being held at gunpoint by Diggs while Octavia tried to get then to stand down.
"Oh thank God, Clarke"said Octavia from her position between Lincoln and the two other delinquents, "Please tell this fool to stand down. He almost shot Lincoln without even thinking. "
Diggs for his part shouted loudly,"I don't care. The Grounders killed Atom. He was my only friend. I don't give a shit about orders. Do you think the Grounders even hesitated before slashing his throat?"
Diggs had shouted loud enough for the delinquents to begin to gather and Clarke felt her ire rise as the delinquents abandoned their posts at the designated training pits to see what it was all about.
"Stand down, Diggs,"said Clarke coldly as she focused the ire she felt at the rest of delinquents into her voice.
Diggs wasn't at all phased by Clarke's words and still held his rifle at the steady and said,"Fuck you. I'm blowing this Grounder to hell."
Octavia turned her armour on and was ready to attack, but she was too slow as the rifle let out a sharp crack.
Octavia had blinked on reflex and fearing the worst she turned to Lincoln, but she was surprised to see him unharmed. Octavia turned back to Diggs and she was surprised at what she saw.
Clarke stood with her hand on the barrel and forcing it to point upwards. She wrenched the rifle from Diggs' hands and slammed the butt of the rifle into his nose.
Diggs let out an audible groan from the floor as he cradled his bleeding nose. Clarke stood over him and said,"I said stand down."
The vast majority of the delinquents had seen the entire exchange and the gunshot was likely to attract more attention.
"See that?" said Mbege as he pointed towards Clarke,"Princess over here is making friends with the Grounders and beating us up and do you know why?"
The murmurs in the crowd were getting progressively louder and Mbege seemed be feeding off the energy,"It's because she thinks she's better than us. She has powers so she's special while she goes and plays princess and meets with the Grounders , we're stuck here slaving away and why? Because she and her attack dogs said so!"
Octavia was about to step forward, but she was stopped by Clarke's grip on her wrist,"Don't. You're giving him what he wants. "
Mbege had noticed the interaction and said, "You see? Her dogs bow and listen to her every command. I don't know about you, but I got enough of that on the Ark. I'm tired of listening to people who call the shots just because of their privilege."
Sections of the crowd let out a loud roar and Mbege seemed to want to end his speech as he said," I bet they even gave us broken injections on purpose just because we aren't as important as their precious Princess over there. Well I'm tired of people telling me I'm not good enough and I'm sure you guys are too. I say we leave this camp and set up our own! No rules. No forced duties! We can just do whatever the hell we want."
Octavia sighed at the last sentence and said,"I think we found our new Bellamy. "
It went mostly unheard by Clarke who had enough and said,"Look, I won't force any of you to stay. If you want to leave with Mbege then leave. I won't stop any of you and we'll give each of you enough supplies for a week. We'll give only a few of you guns. When you realise that the grass isn't greener on the other side then you're welcome to come back."
Mbege looked pleased and said, " Fair enough. We'll leave in an hour. Also, when you guys get tired of following Princess's every wish and command you can come join our camp."
There were cheers after Mbege had spoken and after the crowd had dispersed, only Clarke, Octavia and Lincoln were left standing there.
"Was that really a good idea?"said Octavia as she turned to Clarke,"Who knows what trouble they could get up to on their own? You should have–"
"Forced them to stay?"countered Clarke," They're more than just a few people who are bitter over not having any powers. It would have only gotten worse as more and more people activated their powers. It's better to cut off the infected flesh than to ignore it and let it fester."
"Okay, fine, but what about what's out there? We don't know if all of those traitors are roaming around who knows what else is out there?"said Octavia less heatedly than she had before.
Clarke turned to Octavia and said,"That's what the gun are for. Lincoln, I'm guessing we need to leave?"
Lincoln nodded and said,"Yes, we need to be at the bridge soon."
Clarke nodded and said,"I'm getting Raven and Bellamy. I'm sure they must have heard about what happened here so they're probably ready to leave."
"Raven and Bellamy? Isn't that a bit much?"said Octavia, but she flinched as heard Clarke's parting statement.
"It wasn't enough to save Roma,"said Clarke curtly before she turned and walked back into camp.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So, who exactly are we meeting with?" said Raven as they approached the bridge.
They had set off after Mbege and his crew had left. A staggering 49 people had left and perhaps the biggest surprise was that five of the 49 had dormant powers. All five were pretty lazy and despite having powers, they seemed gutted when they were told they have to do daily combat training and hunting until their powers activated.
"Heda's presence is required in Broadleaf territory so we're meeting with Anya – Heda's mentor,"said Lincoln in response to Raven,"She has a lot more sway than most of the Trikru so she can negotiate on Heda's behalf. The bridge is only a few minutes away. "
Clarke was walking beside Lincoln at the front of the group and said,"Okay, guys listen. This is supposed to be a peaceful negotiation so we shouldn't be hostile. If things go badly then we need to do what we must to all get away. "
Octavia nodded and said,"Let's hope it doesn't get to that."
They reached a break in the woods and finally the bridge appeared. It was rusted and worn down from centuries of being exposed to the weather.
There was no one there and the party of five stepped onto the bridge. A noise from the other side of the bridge drew everyone's attention and they were amazed to see two horses galloping with their riders perched on their saddles.
They were followed by a large, black horse that carried a woman with rather regal features. The woman drew to a stop and it was only then that Clarke noticed the bows the two riders were carrying.
"I thought you said no weapons,"said Bellamy as he glared at Lincoln.
Lincoln didn't seen bothered by the glare and said,"I was told there wouldn't be. "
Anya got off her horse and Clarke began to walk forward. Bellamy tried to follow, but he was stopped by Lincoln who said,"Only her."
The walk to Anya couldn't have been a couple of yards, but to Clarke it felt like one of the longest walks of her life. Eventually, she stood in front of Anya and especially up close the woman gave off an aura of strength and leadership.
"You must be the one they call Clark,"said Anya in neutral tone as she stared into Clarke's eyes.
Clarke knew that the Grounders respected power so she did her best to appear unfazed by Anya and said,"Yes, I am. You must be Anya."
The silence in the air hung for a few seconds before Anya spoke,"That's correct. Tell me what is that you seek to achieve with this meeting?"
The slightest hints of hostility and into Anya's eyes even though her voice betrayed nothing.
"I'm sure Lincoln must have told you that my people weren't born on Earth and we actually come a space station that was built before the bombs fell. We were sent here as an experiment to see if the Earth is survivable. When we landed we got attacked by outcasts of the Trikru and Lincoln helped us find one of our own who had gotten kidnapped by them. It was then that we learnt more about the clans and the coalition and we would like to hopefully enter into an alliance."
If there was anything that Clarke was expecting, it definitely was for Anya to explode in laughter. The laugh was anything, but encouraging however.
Anya stopped laughing and she stalked closer to Clarke. Her eyes were radiating anger as she said,"An alliance? You want an alliance after you fired those missiles that burnt down an entire village? "
Clarke was confused until she caught onto what Anya was saying,"Those weren't missiles. They were flares. We had to signal to our people in the sky that it was safe for them to come down."
The words did nothing to reduce Anya's anger as she said," It does not matter what you intended to do. Mistake or not. You burnt down an entire village. You set off a large bomb and the Maunon raided one of our villages due to your actions. You standing here after all this just tells me you started a war you don't how to end. "
"A war?" said Clarke incredulously, " We don't want a war. We just want to try and get along. My people have elite soldiers. They have guns and better technology than what I've seen from the Grounders. They will kill you if we go to war. That's the last thing I want. We just want to find a way we can live side by side."
Anya seemed to contemplate Clarke's words, but Clarke felt her heart sink as she heard the crack of a rifle and a bullet went straight through the head of one of Anya's guard. There were more shots fired and Clarke was surprised to see bodies fall from the tree line on Anya's side of the bridge.
Clarke looked around behind her and she was surprised to see Diggs and Pascal standing at the tree line down below the bridge and there was smoke wafting off of the end of Diggs' muzzle.
There was another crack and this time the bullet was headed for Lincoln, but Clarke had already started running as soon as she had seen Pascal aim his rifle.
The bullet was on a beeline to Lincoln's chest and as Clarke ran she was able to perceive everything at a higher rate than usual. It was this added ability of her super speed that allowed her to move Lincoln out of the way and everything sped up back to normal time after she skidded to a stop.
There were a few more cracks and the second of Anya's guards fell to a shot to the stomach . Clarke immediately wanted to run and help the man as she saw it wasn't a fatal wound.
!*
Unfortunately, that wasn't an option as Clarke's Instinct activated and used her psionic powers to form a shield in front of her. It was right in the nick of time too as Anya appeared in front of her in a cloud of black smoke and tried to stab her, but she was stopped by the translucent, blue barrier.
"Guys. Diggs. Now."said Clarke simply and it was enough for the other three delinquents to understand.
Clarke pointed her hands at Anya who had tried another futile stab and shot a blast of energy at her. The blast passed straight through the barrier and hit Anya in her midsection.
Anya was sent careening across the span of the bridge and Clarke snuck a look behind her in time to see Raven fire a beam of energy from her hands.
The beam shot straight through Pascal and he was dead before he hit the ground. Diggs began to run, but Bellamy had run off into the woods after him and Clarke was worried until she saw Octavia and ,after a moments hesistation, Raven run off after him.
Clarke turned back to Anya and saw she was just getting back up to her feet. There was blood dripping from the crown of Anya's head and yet it didn't seem to bother as she yelled across the bridge at Clarke,"So you lured me saying you wanted peace, but I can tell you clearly want war!"
"No!"shouted Clarke vehemently as she felt a pit form in her stomach,"Those people are not under my rule anymore. They left our camp! I didn't know they were going to be here!"
Anya snorted loudly and said, "Just like how you didn't think the flares you launched might hurt someone? You say you want war the moment and the next moment you shoot at me with your powers."
Anya walked back across the bridge and Clarke tensed herself waiting for an attack, but it never came. Anya had only come to pick up her knife that she had dropped.
"If it's a war you want, Klark,"said Anya as she toyed with the knife in her before throwing it at Clarke,"It's a war you'll get."
The knife was moving at an extreme speed, but to Clarke's horror it wasn't aimed at her and it lodged itself firmly into Lincoln's heart. A perfect throw from over 30 yards.
"Traitor,"spat Anya in disgust as she watched the man fall.
Clarke had ignored the rest of what Anya had said before she ran back to Lincoln and she quickly yanked the knife out before her hands glowed green and she pressed them firmly over Lincoln's chest.
"Please don't die,"said Clarke as an image of Roma overlaid on Lincoln's face, but it faded as she could feel the flesh beneath her palm knit itself back together.
After only a few seconds, Lincoln was no worse for wear except for the blood across his chest and Clarke was pretty sure the wound was going to scar badly. The man was unconscious, but his chest was rising and falling if only a little unsteadily.
Clarke turned back to Anya who hadn't moved an inch and seemed surprised at the sight of Clarke healing Lincoln from a mortal wound.
"There's no need to start a fight, Anya. We can resolve this peacefullly."said Clarke as she tried one last ditch effort to stop the war.
Anya snapped out of her shock and sneered at Clarke,"Peace? There will be no peace for my men that your people killed. No peace for their family and friends. No piece until justice is served. Jus drein jus daun. Blood must have blood. That is the way of the ground, sky girl. It's time you've learnt that."
Anya was about to attack, but was cut off by the sound of a horn blowing.
Clarke had flinched at the sound of the horn and she recognised it for what it was,"Acid fog!"
Clarke hefted Lincoln up and she ran as fast as she could for the woods. She was sure that she couldn't make to camp however and so she stopped roughly a few hundred metres away from the bridge and pulled out the portable tent Finn had discovered a while back and assembled it before pulling Lincoln inside and shutting the zip.
Clarke waited expectantly as she waited for the first signs of the acid fog, but there was nothing. Clarke waited and waited until she heard the sound of movement outside the tent.
Relief washed over Clarke as she heard Octavia call out, "Clarke, is that you?"
Clarke scrambled out the tent and sure enough Clarke was face to face with Octavia. There were a few bloodspot on her clothes, but Clarke ignored that as Octavia said,"Come on! Raven stole the horn and blew it. We need to get back to camp."
"What about Lincoln?"said Clarke and Octavia shifted unconsciously before she said,"We'll need to leave him. He may have helped us and he's the reason I'm not stuck in a cave, but considering the fact you just shot his leader across a bridge and some of our people just killed a bunch of the Grounders, it's likely that we're at war so..."
Clarke knew Octavia was being practical, but who knew what Lincoln might do. Anya may have tried to kill him, but he just might take it out on them.
"I think we should take him,"said Clarke finally,"We need to know what we're up against. We'll tie him up until he wakes up. If he's willing to help us then we'll set him free."
Octavia looked hesitant as Clarke slung the large man over her shoulder, but ultimately decided to let the matter drop.
Clarke was grateful that Octavia didn't put up more of a fight and said,"What happened with Diggs?"
"There were a few more of them in the woods. I think their plan was to kill Anya since they must thought she must have been the Commander or something, but I don't think they had a clear shot so they just shot at whatever Grounder they could."
"Why were there more of them in the woods?"said Clarke, but even as the words left her mouth she knew the reason which was confirmed by Octavia's statement.
"To kill either me, you, Raven or Bellamy. Probably all of us,"said Octavia before adding,"We got all 7 of them except for Trina. That bitch bolted as soon as she saw Pascal drop to the ground."
"A war on two fronts, huh?"said Clarke as she felt a headache develop,"Probably shouldn't have given Mbege those guns."
"Yeah, well, I'd take laser beams over superpowers any day,"said Octavia in a resigned tone, but the resignation quickly changed into resolution as she said,"Clarke, I'm behind you all the way on this. We may be outnumbered, but there's no way we're going down without a fight."
Clarke wished she could provide some words of comfort or reassurance to Octavia, but the hateful glare of Anya was stuck firmly in her mind.
"We need to get back to camp and amp up the guard details. I'm activating some of the dormant powers too,"said Clarke as she turned to Octavia.
"Don't you think that will hurt them?"
"It will definitely hurt them, but I think everyone would agree with me when I say pain is better than death,"said Clarke with a wry smile.
Clarke took Octavia's silence as the younger girl agreeing with her statement and she allowed her thoughts to go inward as she wondered how they would survive a war against Mbege and the Grounders.
Clarke only hoped that if they did survive the war that she would be able to look herself in the mirror and not see a monster.
However, it might already be too late for that.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Trigedasleng
Maunon- Mountain Men
Author Notes:
The functioning of the nanobots has finally been revealed and war is brewing...
I hope you enjoyed that. Please PM with your ideas, opinions and theories, I'll try to answer any and all questions you may have.
Once again, please drop a review so I can track the general consensus of the story. It really helps as an author to know what the general reception of my story is.
