Tragedy ✧ John Murphy

• Chapter 17 •

Third Person's POV

Four days had passed since Julia's incident with her mom. She found out afterwards that the nuts had hallucinogenic properties to it and that's why she saw her mom.

That day, Bellamy also got pardoned for his crime of shooting the Chancellor, which Julia was glad about. She was mad at her brother but she definitely didn't want him to die.

Before seeing her brother that day, Julia made Finn promise not to tell anyone, especially Bellamy or Octavia, about what had happened to her. What she had seen. So far it seemed as if he had kept that promise as she had not been bombarded with questions and concern from either of her siblings.

The only other thing that happened that day that was worth mentioning was that the grounder that they had captive escaped. She suspected her sister had led him to escape while everyone was hallucinating, but she had no proof.

Now, it was Unity Day.

Many of the people at camp gathered around a screen that had been set up to watch Chancellor Jaha give his Unity Day speech.

"My friends, this is a historic Unity Day. Every year, we mark the moment our ancestors of the twelve stations joined to form the Ark, but this is the last time we do so while aboard her. Next year, on the ground." Chancellor Jaha paused and there was applause from his audience in front of him.

Julia was standing next to Finn on the ramp of the drop ship, watching the screen from a little ways away.

"For ninety-seven years, we have eked out an existence, hoping that someday our descendants would return to Earth..." Jaha continued speaking.

Julia looked up at Finn and saw him watching the screen with a distasteful look on his face. That's when Clarke walked down the ramp and stopped next to them. She also noticed the look on Finn's face.

"Don't tell me you don't like Unity Day." Clarke said and Finn looked annoyed, not by Clarke, but by the day itself.

"Unity Day is a lie. The Ark only came together after the thirteenth station was blown out of the sky." Finn explained and Julia raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Wow, really? I didn't know that." Julia told him. "Yeah, well, it's not exactly the version of history we like to tell each other at parties." Finn responded.

"The Unity Day story gives people hope, though, and peace came out of that violence." Clarke said, but Finn didn't look convinced. "Yeah, but did there need to be violence at all?" Clarke didn't have a response to that.

Julia noticed Raven look over at them. When Clarke saw her looking at them, she walked away. Weird.

That's when Jasper came into the clearing. "Whoo! Yeah! Monty strikes again! Hey! Call this batch unity juice! Who's thirsty?" Jasper held up a container that Julia assumed was Monty's moonshine. A crowd gathered around him.

Julia was more focused on Finn, though. Specifically, she was focused on whatever Finn was focused on. She followed his gaze and saw Octavia slipping out of camp.

"To our sons and daughters on Earth listening to this message, we will see you soon. The first Exodus ship will launch in under sixty hours, carrying you the reinforcements that you need, so stay strong. Help is on the way." Jaha finished his Unity Day speech.